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THE LIBRARY OF 

CONGRESS. 

Two Copies deceived 

DEC a I \iiQ4 

Oopyright Entry 

CLASS Cly XXc, No, 

/C39y f 

. COPY,^ A. 



Copyrighted, 

ROBSON & ADEE 

Schenectady, N. Y. 



Troy Times v 

Tny, A'. 



Contents. 



Chapter 




Page 


I. 


The Settlement, ..... 


17 


II. 


Trade, Protection, Customs, 


31 


III. 


Calamities, ...... 


49 


IV. 


Ancient Dwellings, .... 


68 


V. 


Churches, ..... 


76 


VI. 


Churches, ..... 


101 


VII. 


Free Masonry, ..... 


117 


VIII. 


An Historical Bridge, .... 


121 


IX. 


Early Transportation, .... 


135 


X. 


Glen-Sanders, ..... 


155 


XI. 


James Duane, ..... 


171 


XII. 


Featherstonhaugh, .... 


185 


XIII. 


General William North, .... 


205 


XIV. 


Toll, 


211 


XV. 


Schermerhorn, ..... 


229 


XVI. 


Yates House, ..... 


243 


XVII. 


Educational, . . . ■ . 


247 


XVIII. 


Hotels, ...... 


267 


XIX. 


Reminiscences, . • . . . 


273 



List of Illustrations. 



The Old Glenville Bridge, 

View from Rear of Court House, 

North-East Corner Ferry and Union Streets, 

Clute &: Readies Blacksmith Shop on State Street, 

Site of the Old Fort, .... 

Plan of the Fort at Schenectady, 

Plan of the Fort at Schenectady, 1664, 

A Plan of Schenectady, about 1750, 

Plan of the Fort at Schenectady, 1768, 

Abe Veeder's Old Fort, 

Fluting Iron from the Sanders Mansion, 

Spinning Wheel from the Sanders Mansion, 

Eighteenth Century Cut Glass in the Bradt Family, 

Corner of Washington Avenue and State Street, 

The Massacre, January, 1690, 

North Side of State Street, near Washington Avenue, 

Ravine near the DeGraaf House, 

Scene of Beukendaal Fight, 

DeGraaf House, Beukendaal, 

Present Location Teller & Stanford, 

Protection Hose No. 1, 

Burning of First Dutch Reformed C^hurch, 

Mabie House, .... 

The Arent Hradt House, 

Bradt House, .... 

Miniatures in the Bradt Family, 

The Original Dutch Reformed Church, 

A Church" Furnace of 200 years ago. 

Old Union College Building, 

State Street, below Ferry, 



Frontispiece 
16 
24 
32 
36 
38 
39 
40 
41 
42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
51 
52 
56 
58 
59 
62 
64 
(i6 
69 
70 
72 
73 
79 
81 
84 
92 



List of Illustrations. Continued. 



The First Dutch Reformed Church, 

Present Location Y. M. C. A., 

St. George's Episcopal Church, 

An Eighteenth Century Chair, 

Present Location Reeves-Luffman Co. 

Showing Construction of Glenvilie Bridge, 

Bridge Connecting Schenectady and Scotia, 

City End of Glenvilie Bridge, 

Showing Interior of the Bridge, 

Dock Street, .... 

Another View of Dock Street, 

The De Witt Clinton Train, . 

Terminus of Mohawk & Hudson Railway, 

First Train on Mohawk & Hudson Railway, 

First Time-table of the Mohawk & Hudson Ra 

Drullerd's Hotel and New York Central Railw 

First Railroad Depot at Schenectady, 

An Old Style Locomotive, 

The Glen-Sanders Mansion, 

The Abraham Glen House, 

Attic of Glen-Sanders Mansion, 

An Old Cradle, 

Sanders Tablet in Ailhallows Church, London 

A Stairway in Glen-Sanders Mansion, 

Ornate Fire Bellows, 

Judge James Duane, 

Christ's Episcopal Church, Duanesburg, 

A Quit-Claim Deed, 

Present Location Ellis Mansions, 

Sarah Duane, 

General George Washington, 

James Duane Featherstonhaugh, 

Fireplace in Featherstonhaugh Mansion, 

Featherstonhaugh Mansion, 

Colonial Furniture in Delancey Watkins' Hou 



I way, 

y Station, 



Pag. 

96 
100 
104 
115 
116 
122 
126 
132 
134 
136 
138 
142 
144 
146 
147 
148 
152 
154 
156 
159 
164 
165 
166 
168 
170 
172 
174 
176 
184 
188 
190 
200 
201 
203 
204 



List of Illu 



St rat ions. — Couiinufd. 



General William North's Mansion, 

Indian Spear Heads, 

Present Location Union Hall Hlock, 

Maahvyck Farm, 

Chamber in the roll House, 

Dining Room in the Toll House, 

Ravine on the Toll Place, 

The Toll House, 

Tea Set in the Toil House, 

Platter in the Toll House, 

Present Location Myer's Block, 

Silver Mounted Pistol in Schermerhorn 

Pear Tree 150 Years Old, 

Silver Quart Cider Mug, 

Daniel Campbell's City House, 

Governor Yates' House, 

Entrance to Residence of Hon. A. A. \ 

Old-time Leather Fire Bucket, 

The Mohawk Bank, 

Schenectady Academy, 

Entrance to Union College Campus, 

Dr. Nott's Hat and Cane, 

Union College, 

Dr. Nott's Stove, 

Blue Gate, Union College, 

Bowery Woods, 

Present Location Edison Hotel, 

Present Location Vendome Hotel. 

Ledyard's City Hotel, 

Givens' Hotel, 

Original Plan for using Mohawk Rive 

Dutch Church Paper Money, 



Mansion 



a Siiip Canal, 



POK' 

20(5 
209 
210 

2ir, 

217 
21S 
221 
222 
224 
227 
228 
230 
232 
239 
240 
242 
245 
24(3 
248 
252 
254 
2(i0 
2(il 
263 
2(i4 
205 
266 
268 
270 
272 
283 
286 



FORE-WORD. 



There are a great many interesting facts, 
traditions, anecdotes and reminiscences relative 
to Schenectady, which are buried from the 
general public in specialized histories, gene- 
alogies, biographies and in the memories of 
the older residents. It is the purpose of this 
book to present such facts, traditions and 
reminiscences as have been dug out from the 
dry, if more profound and scholarly, produc- 
tions of authors who were masters on the 
subjects upon which they wrote. Schenectady 
is so rich in such material that it has been 
possible to treat the subjects only partialh' 
and casually. 



That so many pictures of ancient buildings, dwellings 
and old time views are presented to the readers is entirely 
due to the kindness of Mr. William A. Wick. This collec- 
tion of ancient landmarks that have been torn down and of 
those still standing, has been obtained by Mr. Wick at 
considerable labor and expense. That the collection is 
imique is patent to ail who see the pictures. 



OLD SCHENECTADY. 



Chapter I. 
The Settlement. 




MEAXIXG OF SCHEXECTADY. 

T IS an odd fact, frequently remarked upon by inter- 
ested outsiders, that almost none of the descendants 
of the old Dutch settlers of Schenectady have any 
knowledge of the origin or meaning of the name of 
that city. I'.ut if the interested outsider remains in 
Schenectady long, he soon ceases to wonder at the lack 
of knowledge for he finds that the rather stolid Dutch 
mind is little given to speculation (jr investigation ; 
that with them if a thing is, it is, and that is enough 
for all pur])oses of trade; trade and the consequent accunmlation 
of dollars being the chief thought among them. 

Schenectady no doubt means, "beyond the jiine plains" and 
"Schonowe," a name given to the locality in the earliest days, 
before and at the time of the settlement, mean,- "the great tkits." 
The authority for these definitions is the Rev. ^\'. W. 
I'.eauchamp. S. I)., an Episcopal clergyman who devoted many 
}-ears to the lri(|uios, or Five Nations, their language and cus- 
toms. He was so highly regarded by the Indian survivcM-s of 
the Five Nations that he was adopted by them and. as a man. 
bore about the same relation to them that the late Mrs. Converse 
did as a woman. 

"Beyond the pine plains" did not api)ly to what is now the site 
of Schenectad}-, any more than to any other ])lace similarly 



i8 Old Schenectady. 

situated ; in fact, it was first applied to Albany. The immediate 
vicinity of Schenectady on the north and west was extraordinarily 
fertile river flats wathont trees of any kind. This was described 
by the Indians as "Schonowe," or "the great flats,'' when trans- 
lated. Any other great flats wonld have been described by the 
Indians by the same word. 

To the cast and south of the great flats were vast sandy 
plains covered with a forest of immense pines. Between Sche- 
nectady and Albany was a sandy plain, pine covered, which 
ended at Albany abruptly and equally so at Schenectady. If an 
Indian was traveling toward the east over the regular trail, when 
he arrived at the Hudson, on the site of Albany, he called it 
Schenectady, that is, "the place beyond the pine plains." Other 
Indians, traveling west over the trail, finally arrived at Sche- 
nectady, which was also "the place beyond the pine plains." It 
was this place beyond the pine plains, at the western end of the 
trail joining the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, which has retained 
the descriptive name of Schenectady. 

Another more poetic meaning is given by Major J. W. 
AlacMurray, editor of Pearson's History of the Schenectady 
Patent. The authority he quotes says : "The usual signification 
attributed to this word, is believed to be erroneous having been 
derived, not from the Mohawk, but from the Mohegan language. 
In the former tongue — the Mohawk — he says, 'Gaun-ho-ha' means 
'door'; 'S'Gaun-ho-ha' means 'the door' and 'Hac-ta-tie'. means 
'without.' These two words combined fonu, 'S'Gaun-lio-ha-hac- 
ta-tie,' this abreviated and written, 'S'Guan-hac-ta-tie' means 
'without the door.' 'S'Guan-ho-ha' appears also in another name 
given to the town by the Mohawks at an earlier date. * * * * 
by a conveyance to Van Curler the land is named by the Indians, 
'Schon-o-we,' identical probably with 'S'Guan-ho-ha,' in sound 
and signification." 

It would seem to require a large supply of Christian Science 
faith to believe that these two words are the same in sound and 
meaning. 



Meaning of Schenectady. 19 

To arrive at the idea which the Indians wished to convey by 
ihe word, "S'Gaun-hac-ta-tie," "without the door," something 
nuist be known about the Iriquois or Five Nations. 

The Five Nations occupied chiefly the middle portion of 
New York. This confederation was composed of the Mohawks, 
Oneidas. Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas. Their territory ex- 
tended from the Mohawk river at Schenectady on the east, to 
Niagara river on the west and was spoken of in their picturesque 
and figurative language as the "Long house," or, sometimes as 
tlie "Cabin." The location of the ^lohawks on the river flats 
between the high hills of what is now Glenville and Rotterdam, 
was called "The Door of the House." As the Mohawks were the 
most powerful of the tribes and were the furthest east, it was to 
them that embassies from other tribes, or the white settlers, were 
sent. To tlie west of the Mohawks, at about the center of the 
State, were the Oneidas. Onondagas and Cayugas. while at the 
extreme west, on Niagara river, were the Senecas. 

The attention paid to form and ceremony was shown when the 
Governor of Canada attempted to make a treaty with the Senecas 
by sending an ambassador to the Senecas directly, instead of by 
way of the "Door." The Mohawks resented this as an indignity 
and a slight, so they sent word to the Governor that, while they 
were "The Door of the House" be had entered by the "Chimney." 
and he would better look out or be would get smoke in his eyes. 

It is a tradition that for many generations, perhaps centuries, 
the site of the chief village of the Mohawks was the spot where 
Schenectady is and their location being the door of the house, 
they called their village "S'Gaun-ho-ha." meaning "the door." 
When their chief village was moved to the west, where Fort 
Hunter now is, their old site was no longer "the door." but "with- 
out the door." so "ho-ha" was dropped and "hac-ta-tie." meaning 
"without," was added to the first syllable making "S'Gaun-bac- 
ta-tie" — "Without the Door." 

Danker and Sluytcr, in their journal of 1680. make a very 
l»retty ])lay upon the word, or else it is a curious coincidence. 



20 Old Schenectady. 

The ininicdiate neighborhood of Schenectady was, and still is 
very beautiful. The scenery is of the kind which is peaceful and 
restful and the weary traveler or pioneer must indeed have been 
impressed, when the pines suddenly ceased, and he beheld the 
lovely valley. So these old boys in their journal describe the place 
as, "This Schooneetendeel." which ]:)y a very slight stretch of 
imagination is similar to the eye and ear to the Indian word. 
Now in the Dutch, "schoon" means, "beautiful;" eeten," from 
"achten," meaning, ''esteemed" or "valuable;" "deel," or "del," 
meaning, "a portion of land," especially a valley ; hence, a beauti- 
ful, fertile valley. 

Some of the spellings of Schenectadv show that the early 
settlers were probably of the same op'inion as was President Andy 
Johnson who, when called to account for his faulty orthography 
re])lied, that he regarded a ]5erson as being something of a fool 
who did not know enough to spell a word in more than one way. 
The Dutcli found the Indian gutterals hard t(^ j^ronounce and 
much harder to express in letters, so when the s]5elling had to be 
done by ear and not by actual knowledge, it was often very much 
off. Resides the original Indian word and its Indian corruption 
already given, Arent Van Curler, the i)i()neer of Schenectady and 
the country roundabout, made it, "Schan-ech-stede." An official 
document of 1664 gives, both "Sch-augh-stede" and "Sch-auech- 
stede." It is probably from the former spelling that a local tribe 
of the Order of Red Men gets, "Schaugh-naugh-ta-da." An 
Indian deed of 1672 for the township gives, "Schau-hech-ta-de," 
which was probably as near as the Dutchman who drew the deed 
could get to the sound of the word when i)ronounced by the 
Indians. In 1675, Sheriff' Cobes, of .\Ibany, dro])ped the second 
"h" from the spelling in the deed and strangely enough. Governor 
Stuyvesant in an order written in 1663 spelled the word exactly 
as it is now spelled. In 1678, Governor .\ndross, in a proclama- 
tion prohibiting trade with "Scon-ex-ta-(U'," in the last two 
syllables followed the spelling of Governor Stuyvesant and made 
a nuiss of the two first syllables, ]iro1iably through an eft'ort to 



The Off -Shoot. 21 

be plionctic. Morse's C.eog-raphy of 1789 gives '■Skeneclady." 
Ill 1693, the Rev. jolin .Miller, a man of liberal edueation, gave 
■■Scaii-ec-ta-de ;" in i()y5 the in\entory of the estate of I lendrick 
Gardinier, gives, "Shinii-ectady ;"" Lieutenant llnnt, Commander 
of the Fort in i6y6, spelled it. ■"Schon-ac-ta-dy," the nearest 
phonetie s])elling- fotnid ; and in 1802, when the people had beeome 
well acciuainted with the .Mohawk langnage, it was spelled in 
a petition. ■"Schon-hec-ta-dy." 

( )f the seventy-one ditTerent spellings to be ftinnd in old 
documents, only once is the word begun with a C and that was 
done by the Rev. Dr. Johnson who wrote to Archbishop Seeker, 
of London, in \J^(). about tiie Iniilding of an l^])iscopal Church — 
St. George \s — in "Chenectedi." 

THE OFF-SHOOT. 

It is a good thing to be well born and a l)etter when honest, 
broad-minded quahties and principles of good citizenship, thrift 
and independence are inherited with the blue-blood. Of such 
v/ere the early settlers of Schenectady. 

The men who settled Schenectady were unicpu' in the Xew 
World, as settlers. Their largeness of mind was ecpialled by 
unselfishness; their thrift for the present by their thoughtfulness 
for those who would come after them. Their pronouns were 
"We" and "Our," not "1" and "Mine." 

Schenectady w^as not a child of Albany, notwithstanding the 
fact that those who settled it were from that i-lace. It was to be 
rid of Albany and the intolerable monopoly of the Dutch West 
India Com])any and its self-assumed right to interfere with the 
mherent rights of individuals, and of the Patroons, men who 
were granted vast tracts of valuable land for the purpose of 
colonization, but who in reality became rivals of the West India 
Company in trade monopoly and oppression of the individual, that 
the men who ]:)ecamc the Fifteen Original Proprietors of Sche- 
nectady cut loose from such oppression and formed a new settle- 
ment where all should have ecpial right to buy and sell and live. 



22 Old Schenectady. 

While their condition was greatly improved, they did not 
entirely free themselves from the monopoly of Albany till 1727. 

Led by Arent Van Curler — a man of such honesty, justice and 
fearlessness that his name became a synonym with the Iriquois 
and Indians of Canada for all that appealed to them as being the 
best — they went to Schenectady (the place "Beyond the Pine 
Plains") and purchased from the Iriquois, or Five Nations, 
"Schonowe," or the "Great Flats." Here on the site of the 
present city of Schenectady they built a village and on the great 
flats they had their farms. The township included 128 square 
miles and a certain portion of this was given to the original 
settlers ; the remainder, known as common lands was held in 
trust for the community then existing and for those who should 
come after them. These men, of their own will, assumed the 
titles of Trustees m accord with their idea of "We" and "Our" 
instead of "Y' and "Mine" and later, when one of them tried to 
set upon a claim of personal ownership in the common lands, 
he and his heirs were fought to the end as determinedly as only 
Dutchmen could fight. This idea of all living for one and one 
for all was the result of deliberate purpose, not of chance. They 
wished to establish a settlement in which all should be equal and 
they realized their wish. 

Although this first permanent settlement was not made till 
1662, V'an Curler was more or less familiar with the locality for 
twenty years before, for he first saw it in 1642. Even then there 
were a few daring hunters and trappers who had made homes for 
themselves widely separated one from the other. There seems to 
be no record of who they were, where they came from or what 
became of them. 

The desire of the settlers to have the land surveyed and their 
portions allotted was not realized till two years after the settle- 
ment, for the authorities at Albany were jealous and fearful that 
some of the profits flowing into their pockets would be stopped 
at the new settlement. In April, 1662, Van Curler had written 
his second request that Jacques Cortelyou be authorized to make 



Location of Proprietors 23 

the survc}-. This rccjiiesl was weakl}- denied 1)_\' the Director 
(icneral on the ground that before the settlement could be formed 
and the land surveyed, at least twenty families should compose 
tlie settlement and that they should promise not to trade with the 
Indians. In May. 1663, Governor Stuyvesant made another 
excuse for delaying the survey, this time on the ground that he 
had been informed that some of the settlers had dared to sell 
liquor to the Indians against his express orders to the contrary. 
He ordered Cortelyou not to survey land for any one in the new 
settlement unless he signed a pledge, drawn by the Governor, not 
to trade in any manner with the Indians. The}' were also to agree 
to pay, without opposition, should they violate their pledge, fifty 
beaver skins for the first offence ; one hundred for the second, 
and for the third to voluntarily forfeit all their lands. This reply 
was talked over by Van Curler and the other fourteen proprietors 
and they decided to sign it. Still the Governor delayed. He 
took on a highly religious and fatherly tone. He feared that the 
transportation of valuable goods by wagons so many miles from 
Albany would cause the Indians to attack the wagon trains, kill 
the settlers and steal the goods and mistreat their women. Finally, 
after Alexander Lindsey Glen, William Teller and Harmon 
Vedder presented a petition on April 17, 1664, for a survey, 
it was granted. 

LOCATION OF PROPRIETORS. 

The area laid out as a village by the Fifteen Original 
Proprietors of Schenectady, included about twenty acres. The 
streets were broad and were laid out at right angles, with four 
hundred feet between parallel streets. Each of these blocks was 
divided into four lots of two hundred feet. This made each lot 
a corner lot, with frontage on two streets. Besides the village 
lots, each proprietor was given a farm on the flats or islands ; a 
pasture to the east of the village ; and a garden to the south of 
the village. 

The apportionment of the village lots, according to records, 
was as follows : 



Location of Proprietors. 25 

Arciit \ an Corlear — or Van Curler — was on the north-east 
corner of L'^nion and Chin-ch streets, where the oUl Union Classi- 
eal Institute huilding- — now the Mohawk Chih — stands. 

PhiHp liendrikse Brouwer was on tiie nortli-west corner of 
State antl Church streets. He (Hed, leaxint;- no chihh'en ; so the 
name is extinct. 

Alexander Lindsey Glen was on the west side of Washington 
avenue, extending from the northerly line of Union street down 
toward Front street. 

Simon Volkertse X'eetler was on the north-west corner of 
State and Ferry streets, diagonally opposite the Y. M. C. A. 
liiulding. 

Ahasueras Tennis \ an \ alscn was on the south side of State 
street, at its junction with Mill lane. The property extended 
hack on the lowland toward the canal, and included about twenty- 
tive acres. He was the miller of tlie community, and as he was 
killed in the "massacre" of j()yo, without children, the name is 
extinct. 

Peter Adrience Van Woggleum, also called Soegemakelyk, 
was on the south-west corner of L'nion and Church streets, 
opposite the old Union Classical Institute property. 

Cornelius Antonisen \'an Slyck's location is not known, lie 
married a daughter of a Mohawk chief and was adopted by the 
tril)e. He was held in high esteem by the .Mohawks and by his 
wdiite associates. His descendants may boast of tine old Holland 
blood and of much older American blood. The Mohawks were 
fierce and cruel and the gentlemen of Spain, who managed the 
Inquisition, were crafty and cruel ; but the former possessed 
qtialities which, in Europe, made princes and great nobles of those 
who possessed them. 

This Indian wife was somewdiat remarkable and was so highly 
esteemed by the Dutch of her day, that the following paraphrase 
from Bunker's and Skiyter's journal of 1680, will be interesting. 

"I was surprised to find so far in the woods" — the place so far 
in the woods was Schenectady — "a person who showed so much 



26 Old ScJiciiccfady. 

love for God. She told me her story from the beginning and how 
it was that she became a Christian." Her father and mother were 
full-blooded Mohawk Indians, who instinctively hated the 
Christians and their teachings, and her mother would never listen 
to anything about them. This girl lived with her parents and 
brothers and sisters. Sometimes she went with her mother to 
the settlements to trade, and sometimes the people from the settle- 
ments went to the place, where she lived, to trade. Some of the 
whites took a fancy to the girl as she seemed to be more of a 
Christian, in many ways, than an Indian. When they proposed 
to take her to the settlemerit and bring her up according to white 
ideas her mother would not hear of it and the little girl was at 
first afraid. After repeated visits by the settlers and requests to 
take her to the settlements the little girl discovered that the 
Christians were not all that her mother had told her they were. 
She seemed to be naturally drawn toward Christianity, the love 
of God and of Christ. This caused her family to hate and abuse 
her. Finally they drove her out and she went to the white settlers, 
who had been so kind to her. She was gladly welcomed and lived 
for a long time with a woman who taught her to read and write 
and household duties. When she had learned the Dutch language 
she studied the New Testament with such good purpose that she 
made a confession of faith and was baptized. 

Gerrit Bancker was on the south-west corner of Union street 
and Washington avenue, opposite the residence of D. Cady Smith, 
on Washington avenue. 

William Teller was on the south-west corner of Union street 
and Washington avenue. His lot included the lot of Judge Jack- 
son, on Washington avenue, and of W. Scott Hunter, on Union 
street. He was the first of the name to come to the Colony from 
Holland, in 1639, i" the service of the West India Company. He 
was possessed of ample means and great influence. 

Bastian De Winter was on the south-east corner of Union 
and Church streets, where the residence of Franklin McClellan — 
formerly the property of Richard Fuller — now stands, across 
Union street from the First Reformed Church. 



I near [^orated as Boron i^h and City. 27 

Arcnt Andrics Uradt was on the nortli-easl corner of vSlate 
street and Washington avenue, where the apartment house, '"The 
Alexandria." stands, opposite the Freeman House. As Bradt 
died before the apportionment, Bastian De Winter's name, as 
attorney for the widow, appears on the apportionment. 

Pieter Danelse Van Olinda's location is not known. He 
married Hillitie, one of the half-breed daughters of Van Slyck. 
She owned large tracts of land, by gift from the Mohawks. 

Jan Barentse Wemp— later spelled Wemple— was on the 
west side of Washington avenue where is now the hotel called the 
Freeman House. 

Peter Jacobse Borsboom was on the south-west corner of 
Front street and Washington avenue, where is now the residence 
of John Keyes Paige. He was survived by several daughters, 
luit only one son, who died, unmarried ; so the name is extinct. 

Jaques Cornelius Van Slyck was on the little public square, 
between State and Water streets at the place where the bronze 
tablet stands. He kept one of the two inns of the village. 

INCORPORATED AS BOROUGH AND CITY. 
The settlement of Schenectady was due to a desire on the 
parts of a few men to be rid of the arbitrary power and oppression 
of the powers in Albany. That they succeeded in makmg a 
permanent settlement, was ever a cause for jealously on the part 
of Albany; and the Schenectady settlers and their successors 
were frequently made to feel in many ways the littleness ot 

Albanv's spite. 

ITp to 1665 Schenectady was a part of Albany. In that year. 
the war with the French being over and the resultmg prosperity 
l)eo-inning to be felt. Schenectady became the most active and 
important shipping center north of New York, for it was here, 
as has been mentioned in another chapter, that the really great 
trade between the west and east was most felt, Schenectady beutg 
the river port for it all. This brought a gr<at number of out- 
siders to'Schenectadv. many of them being of a reckless class, 



28 Old Schenectady. 

especially the river men who worked the batteaux and durhani 
boats. These latter were of the same style as the canal boat of 
to-day, only they were broader and sharper at the bow and had 
a mast rigged with large, square sails. 

In order that these persons might be kept within bounds, the 
people of Schenectady desired a government of their own, in- 
dependent of Albany. With this idea in view a petition was pre- 
sented to the Governor, on April 19. i/h^, asking for a charier. 
At the time Schenectady secured freedom of trade, in i/2y, 
Albany raised heaven and earth to i^revent it, but without success, 
and now that it was trying t() secure independence, Albany 
raised the other place in the hope of preventing that. On the 
second of the next month Albany presented a counter petition to 
the Governor. A charter was granted on October 22, 1765, which 
made Schenectady a borough and created the following offices 
which were tilled by the following citizens : Mayor, Isaac \'roo- 
man ; Recorder, John Duncan ; Aldermen, Jacobus Van Slyck, 
John Glen, Jr., John Sanders, Daniel Campbell, John Visgar, J. 
B. Van Eps ; Assistants — Garret Lansing, Rynier Myndertse, 
Ryer vSchermerhorn, Tobias Ten Eyck, Cornelius Cuyler, Plei- 
manus Bradt ; Town Clerk — Thomas Mcllworth; Treasurer — 
Christopher Yates; Assessors — Isaac M. Merselis and Isaac 
Swits; Collector — Barent S. X'eeder; High Constable — Richard 
Collins ; Sub-constables — Thomas Murray, Hermanns Terwilli- 
ger, John V^an Vorst, Charles Dennison, James Dunlop, John 
Wasson, Jr.; Sergeant of the Alace — Alexander Campbell. 

The mayor, town clerk and recorder were appointed by the 
Governor and the other officers were elected by the people, with 
the exceptions of the high-constable and treasurer, who were 
appointed by the mayor and council, and the sergeant, who was 
appointed by the mayor. The laws of the borough were made by 
the mayor, or recorder and three or more aldermen or assistants. 
The voters were freemen, who had been born in the borough, or 
who had resided there for ten years previous to the granting of 
the charter, or such had been granted the privilege by the council. 



County Incorporated. 29 

Only freemen were permitted to "use any art, trade, or mystery" 
or to sell goods at retail. The. charter was elaborate in detail, 
more like a city charter than a borough's and there is no record 
ihal the mayor and council met after the first time when they 
took the oath of office, but the right and i)ower to meet and make 
laws was there and that satisfied the ])eople. By an oversight, 
the charter did not settle an old dispute in regard to the control of 
the common lands by the original settlers or trustees and theii 
successors, so the trustees appointed by the will of Arent Bradt 
still controlled the town's property. The interest and excitement 
of the prelude to the Revolution settled all local disagreement of 
this nature. 

After the war had given Indei)en(lence to the Colonies, the 
freemen and trustees arrived at an agreement which culminated 
on March 26, 1798, in the incorporation of Schenectady as a city, 
and the control of the public lands was in the hands of the mayor, 
aldermen and commonalty. 'I'he city contained four wards. The 
first was that portion lying between Union street and the Mohawk 
river; the second was south of L^nion street to the limits of the 
original grant and both wards were Ixiunded on the east by the 
line of the original grant ; the third ward was the present town of 
Rotterdam ; and the fourth was the present (own of Glenville. 
The erection of these wards into towns has been described else- 
where. 

COUNTY L\C( )K I '( )RATRn. 

Up to March 7. 1809. Schenectady was a i)art of Albany 
County, a fact that was a cause of irritation to the people of 
Schenectady, but on that date in that year, the discord ceased 
for the western ]jortion of Albany County, lying entirely outside 
of the Manor of Rensselaerwyck, was set ofif and given all the 
rights and privileges that the other counties of the State possessed, 
being entitled to two members of assembly. The County's first 
senior judge was the Hon. Gerret S. Veeder, a lineal descendant 



30 Old Schenectady. 

of the original proprietor, Simon Valkertse Veeder, and the first 
surrogate, Hon. W. J. Teller, was a lineal descendant of the early 
settler, William Teller. 

In addition to the territory already mentioned from the 
earliest days, included in Schenectady, (the towns of Glenville, 
Rotterdam, Duanesburg and Princetown), the town of Niskayuna 
was added. 

Niskayuna was settled by people from Albany at about the 
same time Schenectady was and for the same reason, to be out 
of the control of the officials of the great trading company and 
the Patroons, who kept the Indian trade and its profits for them- 
selves. Niskayuna was set ofT from that portion of Albany County 
lying within the western limits of Watervliet. The names of tht 
early settlers of Niskayuna were. Krygier (now Cregier) Clutc, 
Van Vranken, Pearse, Vedder, Groot, Tymersen, and Van Brook 
hoven. Most notable among these pioneers was Captain Martin 
Krygier, a soldier of Holland and one of Governor Stuyvesant's 
most trusted friends and officers, the man whom he chose for 
important missions requiring diplomacy. In 1653 Captain 
Krygier was the first burgomaster of New Amsterdam. When, 
after taking an active part in the affairs of the Colony and in 
many fights and battles, he decided to retire from public service, 
he settled on the banks of the Mohawk "where the Indians 
carried their bark canoes over the stones," in Niskayuna. He 
died in 171 2 honored and reverenced by all who knew him. 

Princetown was made a township in March, 1798. It was 
and is a long narrow strip of land and was made up of a grant of 
the original Schenectady Patent which had been granted to the 
old Dutch Reformed Church, of Schenectady, and from land 
patents owned by George Ingoldsby and Aaron Bradt in 1737. 
These original owners sold to William Corey, who affected a 
settlement, for many years known as Coreybush. Corey sold to 
John Duncan. The town was named in honor of John Prince, a 
resident of Schenectady who represented Albany County — before 
the forming of Schenectady County — in the Assembly. 



chapter II. 
Trade, Protection, Customs. 



TRADE. 




R( )M llic first settlement down to 1727 the settlers of 
'T7^ Schenectady were prohiljited from tradini;- in any 
manner, especially with the Indians. This was by 
order of the Governor and Council of Albany, who 
intended to keep the rich profits from Indian trade to 
themselves. They feared that the more advantageous 
location of vSchenectady for trade with the Indians 
would reduce the fastness of the fortunes which were 
being- made by a favored few in Albany. 
The settlers as a whole remonstrated against this order and 
\'an Curler added a personal letter to the Governor in which he 
said, among other things: "It would be lamentable were the 
settlers and their posterity to remain forever under the ban of 
slavery and be excluded from bartering their bread, milk or the 
]u-oduce of their farms for a beaver, so as to be able to purchase 
st)me covering for their bodies and their houses." 

Governor Stuyvesant and his crowd loved the wealth which 
was pouring in to their pockets too well to be moved by such just 
apiieals. Of course the i)eople of Schenectady, who had cut loose 
f'-om Albany to be rid of just such arbitrariness, were indignant 
and it was not so very long before individuals began to trade 
secretely with the Indians. This fact, or a rumor of it, having 
been brought to the attention of Governor Lovelace in 1669, he 
issued an order i)rohibiting trade with the Indians at Schenectady. 
The monumental selfishness of this order is shown by the wording 
in one part of it where the Governor says: "* "' * Which does 
and hereafter mav tend to the ruin and destruction of the trade 



Trade. 33 

in Albany, which is of far greater consideration and benefit to the 
Government, than would be the private jirofit of particular per- 
sons." His reference to the "benefit to the Government" was a 
play to his equals and superiors and perhaps, an ointment to his 
conscience for playing the part of an arbitrary, greedy tyrant. 
In 1 67 1 he authorized Captain Sylvester Salisbury, Commandant 
of the Fort in Albany, to search houses in Schenectady for furs 
and other Indian goods and to punish such persons as had them 
in their possession. 

But the Dutch, like the Irish, were "hard to keep down," 
especially the Schenectady Dutch. They defied the porcine 
officials of Albany and traded secretely and profitably so, in 1678. 
Governor Andros took a hand in the matter and issued what 
would be called to-day an injunction. It was that no wagons or 
carts of any kind should pass between Albany and Schenectady 
without a permit granted by the magistrates and that even then 
no passengers or merchandise should be carried. This original 
"government by injunction" was in force for three months. 

There is an infinitesimal bit of irony in that fact that in 1904 
the wealth and trade of which Albany boasted in 1678 has traveled 
across the "Great Sand Plains," not in wagons and carts, but by 
steam and electricity. 

The sherififs from Albany made visits to Schenectady for a 
number of vears to search houses for contraband goods and they 
met with resistance frequently and several prominent citizens 
were arrested and fined for resistance. These men who defied 
unjust laws, made for the few who possessed power and wealth, 
exhibited exactly the same spirit— which is the spirit of the 
American of to-day who has inherited his citizenship from Colonial 
ancestors— as was shown by their Anglo-Saxon brothers when 
they threw the tea into Boston harbor. They were Mindert 
Wemp, Reynier Schaets. Gysbert Garretsen Van Brakel, and 
Adam Vrooman. This was in 1686. Four years later, in 1690, 
Adam Vrooman put up such a stiflf and courageous fight in his 
house, for the safety of his loved ones, that he excited the 



34 Old Scliciicclady. 

admiration of the Indians and their Freneh friends to the extent 
that they promised no harm shonld be done him if lie would 
surrender. For a wonder the i)romise was kept. 

All these years the reg^ulation of trade was in the hands of 
the Governor and Couneil. but m 1686, when Albany received 
its city charter, the Magistrates took a hand in the monopoly 
business; the "protection of infant industries;" and went far 
beyond the Governor and Council. They passed laws in protec- 
tion of trade — for Albany — not even dreamed of bv the advocates 
for the protection of America's infant industries of 1904. 

The charter gave to Albany the enjoyment of the privilege 
and advantage of having within its own walls the sole manage- 
ment of the entire trade with the Indians north, west and east of 
Albany. They could not monopolize the atmosphere, the sun- 
shine nor the rain and tliat was the only reason they did not tlo 
so. The fine for violating this Dutch ancestor of twentieth- 
century Protection, was £20. of which one-third went to the 
mayor ; another to the mayor, aldermen and commonalty ; and the 
third to the person suing for the same. Traders with the Indians 
were prohibited from importing such goods as they could "swap" 
with the Indians for pelts and the fine for doing so was £40 on 
every iioo of their value. In \yo\, Robert Livingston wrote to 
the Board of Trade proposing that the people should be 
encouraged to extend the settlements hito tl:e country by granting 
them free trade with the Indians, without being imposed upon 
by the City of Albany or any other city or town. He called the 
board's attention to the fact that Albau}- had always done every- 
thing possible to discourage settlement because it was feared their 
monopoly of the Indian trade would be somewhat reduced by 
such settlements. He told the l)oard that the Indian trade would 
induce persons to settle further inland and that this would 
enhance the value of the land which would not otherwise be 
increased in. value for many years. The Albany sheriffs kept wp 
their searches ; tabooed goods were fre(|uently found and fines 
were as frequently imposed. 



Trade. 35 

In 1723 the "worm" in .^cIk'uccUkK uirncd. In that year 
J. E. Wendell and Robert Rosebooni informed the Albany 
authorities that Johannes Myndertse, of Schenectady, had taken 
Indians into his honse on the corner of Mill lane and State street, 
who had beaver and other skins with them. Myndertse was 
arrested, taken to Alban\- and said that the information was cor- 
rect. He was fined £10 and committed to jail till the fine should 
be paid. Habeas Corpus proceeding's were beg-un and he brought 
suit against the Aldermen of Albany for trespass and false 
imprisonment. In 1727 the Supreme Court decided in his favor 
and the aldermen were out of pocket £4 1-9-3 f^'i' damages and 
costs. Schenectady had demonstrated that the principle of free 
trade meant greater general i)rosperity for the Colony than pro- 
tection for a few wealthy monopolists. 

In modern parlance, "the lid was always off," all over 
the Colony, so far as the free selling of rum to the Indians 
was concerned. This was a grave fault of the early Dutch 
settlers and Schenectady was not an cxcejjtiou to the rule. In a 
letter on the subject ir. 1687. Colonel Peter Schuyler told the 
(Governor that the selling of licjuor to the Indians was a great 
evil and kept them from being about their business "as they 
stayed at Schenectady continually drinking."' b-ven some of the 
most ]irominent Indian Sachems took the matter up with the 
Colonial authorities in an eft'ort to stop the traffic in licpior with 
the Indians as it was demoralizing them and making them (|uar- 
relsome. 

The Dutch trader liked the business very well for if he could 
exchange rum for pelts or valuable furs and at the same time so 
confuse the mind of the Indian with the rum that he would give 
ten times its value in skins, so much the better. The Colony 
tried to sto]) the sale but without nmch success. The trotible was 
then as it now is. that the sale of li(|uor was very jirofitable. 



Forts. 37 

FORTS. 

The tirst protection from Indians and other enemies at 
Schenectady was a stockade, which was, no doubt, erected as soon 
after the houses for the pioneers, as possible. This stockade was 
made of the trunks of the immense pines which were m j^reat 
number then. They were twenty feet long and were set close 
together in a trench about the outer limits of the settlement. 
Where they touched they were hewn flat and then pinned at the 
top together, the tops being cut to a point to add to the difficulty 
of scaling. These great posts were of sufficient thickness to be 
bullet-proof, to the bullets of 1662 at least, and of course arrows 
were harmless, unless shot over the top. 

The stockade surrounding Schenectady inclosed the original 
four squares bounded by State and Front streets; Washington 
avenue and Ferry street, the great posts being placed on the 
outer line of those streets, so that the street proper was between 
the stockade and the front lines of the four blocks. In those 
days and for many years thereafter. Front street did not bend 
to the north at Church street as it does now, but was in a line at 
right angles to Church street and intersected Ferry street where 
the angle now is in Ferry street, opposite the northern boundary of 
St. George's Church yard. This stockade was entered by gates 
at Church and Front streets and at Church and State streets. 

The first blockhouse was at the junction of Front street and 
Washington avenue, that being the point which would be first 
attacked by Indians, who would approach the settlement from 
the river. After the destruction of the settlement by the French 
and Indians in 1690, another block house was erected on land 
belonging to Isaac Swits— who was taken prisoner to Canada by 
the Indians— west of the end of Union street, that is. Union street 
and Washington avenue. This was in 1690. It may be stated 
incidentally that Swits returned a year later to find his property 



38 



Old Schenectady. 



pre-empted and used as a fort, and that it was not till 1708 that a 
grant was made to his son of 1,000 acres of land in Niskayuna in 
payment. 

The fort erected after the burning was a very large afifair 
and a carefully executed map of it was drawai in 1695 by the Rev. 
John Miller, a liritish chaplain stationed in New York, who some- 
times went to Schenectady to administer the sacraments to the 
soldiers stationed there and to civilian churchmen. 



$ *w 




Several historians have regarded this fort as including the 
whole of the origir.al village consisting of four blocks four 
hundred feet square. In fact this is the generally accepted idea, 
but there are reasons for doubting it. 

A long fot)t note in Pearson's history describes the fort in 
detail and places the four blockhouses at the foot of State street , 
at State and Ferry streets ; at Ferry and Front streets and at 
Front street and Washington avenue. These blockhouses were 
joined by the stockade and the whole affair covered the entire 



Ports. 



39 



village, as orioinall)- laid out in \(^(^, in fonr s(|naiTs oi four 
hundred feet. This is according to the foot note. 

In the first place, Mr. Miller's drawing shows a cluster of 
buildings without regularity and without the four blocks separated 
by the two wide streets, Church and Tnion. The survey of 1664 
and all later maps plainly show the original four-block i)lan of 
the village, notably one of about 1755 and the \'rooman map of 
17^)8. The ]irobal)ility is that Mr. Miller's fort was in realitv a 
fort and not a stockaded village. This fort, as is plainl\ shown 
in the drawing, is boimded by the main river and Binni Kill on the 
north and west. Professor Pearson and Major MacMurrav give 







State street as the southern and Kerry street as the eastern 
boundaries. It is ])robable ihat they both jumped at a con- 
clusion and have made the fort include the area of the original 
village with the stockades on State, Ferrw and Front streets and 
along the P)inni Kill. The probability is that this fort occupied the 
parallelogram bounded by I'ront street continued, Washington 



40 



Old Schenectady. 



avenue, State street continued and the Binni Kill. In this area 
would be sufficient room for the buildings contained in the fort 
as drawn by Mr. Miller. After the fire which destroyed all but 
two of the houses on that night of the massacre, it is quite probable 
that this fort was built first and that the houses were then rebuilt 
on the sites of those which had been destroyed. While the 
rebuilding of the homes was in progress, the settlers ho doubt 
lived in the little cabins within the fort and finally, after all the 



APl.A> 

'/ 

SCHFNECTA1)\ 




'^ V V 



homes had been finished, only the soldiers and Indians occupied the 
fort buildings. In case of another attack all the inhabitants of the 
village would retire to the fort, taking their live stock with them. 
There were two large buildings for Indians, besides a large 
barn and numerous out-buildings for live stock during a siege. 
The buildings for the Indians were provided because, after the 
massacre, a considerable number of Mohawks lived with the 
remnants of the little settlement for encouragement and to help 
the reduced population regain its losses. These Indians helped 



Ports. 



41 



build the stockade and fort and grathered tlie crops at tlie first 
harvest after the massacre. The entire population at this time 
was less than one hundred adults, including those in the village 
and those outside, from the line of the town of Xiskayuna to 
Hoffman's ferry, so the assistance rendered by the Indians was 
great and much needed. Three years after the date of Mr. 
Miller's plan of the fort, 1698, the entire i)opulation in the same 
territory was fifty men. forty-one women and one hundred and 
thirty-three children. . . 

'in 1705, the "Queen's new fort" was built m the vicmity ot 
the junction of Ferry and Front streets, where the present Indian 



tZT^^'Z / >" I 




monument stands. It was one hundred feet square and was 
surrounded by a double stockade with blockhouses at the corners. 
In 1735 it was rebuilt upon a stone foundation with the su])er- 
structure of heavy timber. Its area was increased to one hun.lrod 
and twenty-four feet, each of the four blockhouses bein- twenty- 
four feet square. 



Litstoiiis. 



43 



The frequent ])etitii)ns for repairs to the existini;- fortitica- 
tioiis and complaints of their concHtion hy tiie people of Schenec- 
tady, to the Colonial authorities in Al])any, gives the impression 
that while Schenectady, being- a frontier post was considered to 
be the key to Albany and New York, the Colonial authorities did 
very little for it until actually forced to do so, l)ecause the forts 
and stockades were rotting. F.ven then nuich of the work and 
expense had to be done and borne l)y the settlers. 

CUSTOMS. 
It was a hard-and-fast custom, even more of a rule than a 
ctistom, that married women should wear caps. This cap wear- 
ing by married women obtained from the earliest days well into 
the nineteenth century. A failure to conform to this custom was 
considered a very grave offence against i)ropriet_\, as nuich so 
perhaps, as it would be to-day for a woman to drink at a public 
bar. One of the first things the young wife did was to make a 
supply of caps, daint},- or ugly according to the taste of the maker. 
L'sually the bride's best and finest needle work was put into the 
making of this badge of respectability, and ruftk's as an adorn- 
ment were so general that flutmg irons were made for thai 
esjiecial purpose. As is shown in the picture, there was a base 
and graceful standard su])porting a cylinder of three-quarters of 
an inch in diameter and six inches long. This was o])en at one 
end and cone-shaped at 
the other. This cylin- 
der was highly poHshed. 
The heating device was 
a solid piece of iron of 
the same shape as the 
cyhnder, but smaller so 
that it would easily rest 
inside. This heater had 
a rather long handle. 
When the wife wished f/,<,/n./™„/™,„ ,/,. ,s«,u/,-rx.w.„.io„. 

to HtUe her daint\- ca]) she first ])laced the heater in ll 




44 



Old Schenectady. 



coals of the open fire and when it was sufficiently hot it was 
placed in the cylinder and then the fluting was done. If the 
operator was blessed with pretty.graceful hands, the operation of 
cap fluting must have been very attractive. In those far-oif and 
fine old days the women were seldom idle, even when the 
neighbors "dropped in" for a chat. On such occasions the thrifty 
wife usually took up the lighter and more dainty of the household 
duties of which cap fluting was one. 

The old Dutch had many curious customs, curious according 
to twentieth-century ideas, but entirely natural and quite proper 
iu the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. There was marriage, 
for instance: Many a searcher after family history, or pedigree, 
has had his or her — especially her — gray matter dislocated by the 
startling closeness of the marriage ceremony and the first birth, 
but further investigation reduced the dislocation and the search 
was continued calmly. 

The Dutch in the Western Hemisphere considered marriage 
as a civil contract. When two young persons decided to marry, 
that decision was in the eyes of the 
community, marriage. They lived 
together as man and wife and when 
the minister made his periodical 
visit for the purpose of administer- 
ing the sacraments, they would 
have their civil marriage confirmed 
by the religious ceremony. In the 
early days the visits of the minister 
were sometimes three months, or 
even longer apart. In the cases of 
such ])ersons who lived at a dis- 
tance from one or another of the 
small settlements, the difficulty in 
having the marriage confirmed by 
a minister was greatly increased. 
In those early days the conditions required that the community 




Customs. 



45 



should l)e nuulc U]) ot faniilirs. W'liilc the inen \\(.T(.' coiiqiicrinj;- 
Nature and i)lanting- and rca])in^-. or hunlini;- and fisliin,<:^ for 
food, tlic women were weaving" and making' garments and pre- 
serving such of the products of the helds and woods, as could 
he preserved, for the winter, so niarriaj^e was the natural condi- 
tion. There were no bachelor-girls in the seventeenth century 
and the re-marriage of widows and widowers would he considered 
somewhat rapid even in Chicago. 

Some of the verv odd customs which obtained at funerals 
continued well into the nineteenth cenlur\. it is a matter of 
history that Dr. Eliphalet Xott. president of Union College, was 
the first man with sufficient moral courage to ])reach against, and 
finally to eliminate locally, the unseemly feasting and drinking 
which accompanied a funeral. 

In those days women never went to the gra\e. but after the 
coffin had been taken from the h.ouse the\" drank s])ice(l wine aii'l 
nibbled cakes. Before the men re- 
turned from the grave the women 
withdrew and the men entered into 
the feasting with heartiness. Re- 
sides the cakes and wine they were 
provided with "Church warden 
pipes" and tobacco. In these da\s 
it is the artist-undertaker, or "mor- 
tuarians" as some of them style- 
themselves, who reduce the family 
finances ; in those days it was the 

Uian who sold wine and tobacco. The cakes were of an especial 
kind and were called "deadcakes." 

In the case of a funeral in the family of the rich, or of those 
high-up in the official life of the Colony, large sums were spent 
on the wine and it was not unusual for a sn|)pl\ of it to be put 
i'i the cellar long l)efore the iirst death so that it would be on 
hand and improving by age. The best rf)om was reserved for 
funerals and was seldom used for any other purpose, unless 





Cartifr of Jf'ashingWn Avenue and Slate S 



Customs. 47 

indeed, it was on the rare occasions when tlie dominie made a 
brief visit. Funerals were only attended Ijy those who were invited. 
The list would he made out and s^iven to the sexton and he would 
cU) the invitinj^ verbally. There were tixetl charg-es for the ser- 
vices of the sexton for delivering- tlie invitations ; for burial ; 
ringing ihe l)ell, t(^lling it, for use of the great pall or the little 
]>all. If ihe deli\-ery of invitations required going out from the 
settlement, he was allowed to make an extra charge. 

In regard to the i)alls : They were the ])roi)erty of the 
church and were two in numljcr — one small the other large. When 
the coffin was carried from the best room to the front door, it 
was placed upon a bier and then carried to the grave upon the 
>hiiul(lers of the bearers; the ])all having been thrown over the 
bier. Down to 1800. Schenectady did not possess a hearse so. 
while it was a hardshi]) in stormy weather and nuich more so in 
ver\- cold winter weather, to carrv the cot^n on the shoulders from 
the house to the gra\-e in the village, the conditions on outlying 
farms made it necessary for the family to ha\e a small plot of 
ground set a])art for burial purposes. In April. 1800. the con- 
sistory of the First Dutch Reformed Church decided to procure 
a hearse for the use of the congregation and the ])nblic under 
certain regulations. In Deceiuber of that year the hearse arrived. 
It, with the harness, was given into the charge of the sexton and 
application for its use was maile to him and he was empowered to 
collect the fees. 

.\nother curious, and no doubt extremely popular, custom 
was the generous use of nun on all occasions. If a house was 
being built, or a clnu-ch. or anv work or occasion of a ])ublic 
nature there was an item in the bill of expense for rum. ( )n .\pril 
28, 1748, Jacob Mynder.se was paid £3-12-2 for rum for the 
dominie's bee and on the same day of the month in 1751. Isaac 
A. Truax was ])aid / 1 - 1 3-^' f<>i' sugar and rum for another bee 
which only goes to show that in those days when preachers were 
liard up for a subject, or his wife was too busy to write a sermon 
for him. he could not go to that subject, wliich has been reduced 



48 



Old Schenectady. 



to a mere shadow by the preachers of to-day, RUM, for he had 
not then discovered that the crime of the world was caused by 
rum. On the contrary, he found that with proper ingredients it 
was a very acceptable substitute for water from the Mohawk, at 
one of his bees. Another item which shows how close were the 
relations of rum and religion in those old days, is from the 
treasurer's book of the First Reformed Church; July 5, 1814 — 
"I'aid for liquor when the old spire was taken down, 37 1-2 
cents." 




Chapter III. 
Calamities. 




MASSACRE. 

HE first and greatest calamity was that which took 
^1^ place in the night of February 8, 1690. In that part 
of the geographies, of twenty-five years ago, which 
was devoted to the State of New York, there was a 
picture of the event called, "The burning of Schenec- 
tady in iTxp," but in the Mohawk valley it is always 
referred to as the Massacre. 

The conditions which made it possible for the French 
and their Indian allies to destroy Schenectady was 
Protestant zeal, bordering u[)on religious hysteria. The Leislerian 
craze is a matter of State history and will only be referred to for 
ihe purpose of combating those persons who attribute the inactiv- 
ity and unj^repared condition of the settlers of Schenectady, to 
Dutch stupidity and j^hlegm, whereas, as a matter of fact, it was 
religious hysteria. 

At the time William and Mary ascended the throne of Great 
Britain, there lived in New York a merchant i)ossessed of large 
fortune, who was the political ancestor of the long line of political 
bosses with which New York has been cursed or blessed, accord- 
ing to whether one is a citizen or a "grafter." This man, Jacob 
T.eisler, assumed the control of the Colonial government and was 
encouraged in so doing by the Protestant extremists, who held 
that all officials, in office under James, were Papists. T.eisler 
removed the officials and appointed those who were friends of him- 
self and his son-in-law, Milborne. Bigotry was rampart to such 
an extent, that the people of Schenectady would obey only the 
men appointed by T.cisler. nor would they provide for the soldiers 



50 Old Schenectady. 

sent for their protection. It is tradition, that they feU so safe in 
their Protestant security that they made snow men at the gates of 
the fort to act as sentinels instead of placing men of flesh and 
blood there on that bitter winter's night, when the French Com- 
mander, Sieur Le Moyne de Sainte Helene, with one hundred 
and fourteen French and ninety-six Indians, two hundred and 
ten in all. made their attack upon the unprepared settlement of 
four hundred inhabitants. 

When this French expedition set out. it had no definite ending 
to its journey by woods and water, other than to attack the 
British settlements in New York. Thev left Montreal in January, 
1690, and after a six-days' march through the deep snow in the 
intense cold, they halted for consultation, when the Indians 
demanded to know their destination. The French favored an 
attack ui)on Albany, that being the largest and most important of 
the settlements, up the river from New York. The Indians, how- 
ever, seemed to favor attacking Corlear — as Schenectady was 
called bv the French out of respect to \'an Corlear, the really 
honest Dutch gentleman — as thev were more familiar with the 
locality. A jiortion of the Indians who were with the Frencli. 
were composed of those renegades from th.e Mohawks who had 
been seduced to Canada and to the adoption of the Roman faith 
by the Jesuit Fathers, mentioned in a previous chapter. These 
red fiends who had adopted the faith of the Holy Catholic Church 
hated those other fiends who had ridopted the faith of their 
Protestant Dutch friends ; in both cases from ulterior motives, 
not from conviction, notwithstanding their i)rofessed belief that 
the murdering, scalp-lifting savage of Canada went directly to 
l)aradise by way of the rapid transit system of confession and 
absolution; or that otlier belief, that the diually bloody savages 
of the Mohawk valley entered heaven over the "straight and 
narrow path" of Protestant bigotry. 

The desires of the Indians carried weight with the French, 
so the expedition kept to the right at Ticonderoga, where the 
trails for Albany and Schenectadv diverged, and arrived opposite 



Massacre. 



Schenectady just 'before ini(lnii;lit. Tliev intended to make the 
attack early in the inornir.j;- of tlie next day, l)et\veen two and 
rhree o'clock, hut the cold was so intense it was inijxtssihle to 
ilelay, as they had. no protection from it and, of course, could not 
huikl fires, as they would warn ihe ])eo|)le of their presence. 

The advance was made immediately: the traditional snow 
sentinels weri. found kee])ini;" i^uard at the ,^'ate which was o])en. as 
if to invite the murder and desolation which followed. The attack 
was made, upon 
si_c:nal, first upon 
the homes in the 
village and then 
upon the fort at 
stockade around 
one corner of the 
the villa_q"e. In 
this fort were 
l.ieut. Enos Tal- 
m a d i.^ e a n d 
twenty- four men 
of the C'onnecti- 
cui soldier y. 
Lieut, de .Man- 
tel, the second in 
mand of the 
l'"rench. led the 

J he Massarrr. January, IbW. 

attack upon the 

the fort, the i^'ate of which was finally hurst open after ,<;-reat 
difticult\. the fort set on hre and the defenders killed or captured. 
l"e\v of the men in the homes of the villag-e made an\- defence. 
The Mar(|uis de .Monti.i;ny, a volunteer made an attack upon the 
I'.ome of .\dam \ rooman, hut he defended it with coura.^e and 
desperation. The mar(|uis w;is wounded twice hy a s])ear in the 
hands of X'rooman and would have heen driven off but for French 
reinforcements arri\inL;- just in time. \^rooman's life was spared 
for various reasons as is told in the chapter on .\ncient Dwellings. 





Side of State Street, near U'ashingtmi .-lie 



Massacre. 



53 



The murder of the settlers continued for two hours and the flames 
which consumed their lionies continued all night and into the 
following day. Ahcr the killing was finished, the Indians were 
Icept busy setting fire to the homes, for the French conniiander, 
from past experience feared, that should the Indians have nothing 
to occupy their attention they would hunt up the liquor with 
which all Dutchmen were well supplied and, becoming drunk, 
would be unable to fight should assistance be sent to the defence 
of the village. French sentinels were posted and the other French 
soldiers obtained some much-needed rest. Of the 40x3 inhabitants, 
sixty-two were killed, and thirty taken prisoners to Canada. Of 
the eighty buildings in the village, only two were not burned, one 
being that of Captain John A. Glen and the other being that of 
the widow Bradt in which the wounded marquis had been cared 
for. Of the considerable number of homes outside the stockaded 
village, only three were not burned. The total loss to the Dutch 
was estimated by the French at $80,000. 

At sunrise the French sent some of their men across the 
river to the Sanders mansion to obtain his surrender, but he had 
no intention of surrendering to them and was prepared for a 
defence with his farm hands and some Indians. There was no 
intention on the part of the French commander to attack Captain 
Sanders, who, with his wife, were notable in Canada for their 
goodness to French prisoners who had been captured by the 
Mohawks. The fact that Major and Mrs. Sanders were staunch 
Protestants, giving help and comfort to the French Romanists, 
added greatly to the regard of the French for them. 

The French began the return journey to Canada with the 
loss of but seventeen Frenchmen and four Indians and with 
thirty prisoners — no women nor old men being taken, as they 
could not stand the march through the snow in the intense cold — 
and fifty horses; thirty-four of them, however, were killed for 
food on the way to Montreal. 

It was on this occasion that Simon Schermerhorn rode to 
Albany, with a wound in one thigh, to spread the alarm. On 



54 Old Schenectady. 

February lo, two days after the massacre, the Albany authorities 
sent Captain Jonathan Buh, who vv^as in command of the Connecti- 
cut troops in Albany, to Schenectady, with five men from each 
company, to bury the dead. The authorities sent a long letter of 
appeal to Governor Bradstreet, of Massachusetts, in which the 
massacre was described and help asked for the destitute. 

The conditions in the little settlement were awful, for not 
only were the dead and wounded to be considered, but the living- 
were without shelter in midwinter. There was danger that the 
settlement would be abandoned. This was something the 
Albanians and Indians of the valley did not want. 

The iAlohawks of the valley were the friends of the Dutch 
and sympathized with them in their great loss by death and lire. 
Just after the people were recovering from their dazed contlition 
and began to return to the scene of the conflagration, they 
assembled in the little square, where they were met by the 
Chief Sachem of the Onondaga Tribe, of the Five Nations, who 
delivered the following poetic and figurative address of sympathy 
and encouragement. As was their custom, he presented a belt of 
wampum at the proper stages in his address. 

"Brethren, the murder of our friends, the white men of 
Schenectady, grieves us greatly ; as much as if it had been done 
to ourselves, for we are of the same chain. The French have not 
acted like brave men, but like robbers with hearts of darkness. 
But be not discouraged on this account. We give you this belt to 
wipe away your tears. 

"Brethren, we do not think that what the French have done 
can be called a victory; it is only a further proof of their cruel 
deceit. Five moons ago they sent messengers with the white flag 
in their hands, and the talk of peace on their lips, but their 
thoughts were of war, as you now see by woeful experience. 
This is the third time they have acted thus deceitfully. They 
did so before at Cadaraqui, and in the country of the Senecas. 
They have broken open our house at both ends. Once far toward 
the home of the sun and here, where we now stand. P)Ut we hope 



Massacre. 



55 



to have revenge. One hundred brave Mohawks are now upon 
their track. They are young warriors. Their feet are Hke the 
elk's feet and very sure. Their shoulders are strong, like the 
shoulders of the buffalo. Their hatchets are as keen as the sharp 
north wind, and their eyes are eagles" eyes. They will follow the 
iM-enchmeii lo iheir very doors. Xot a man in Canada shall dare 
to cross his threshold for a stick of wood. We now gatlier up our 
dead to bury them, ])y this second belt. 

"brethren, the mischief which has befallen us is as great and 
sutlden as if it had come from heaven. Our forefathers taught 
us to go with all speed to bemoan and lament with our ])relhren 
in the same chain, when disaster happens to them. We must 
watch carefully lest other mischief come upon us. Let us sleep 
but little ; and when we lie down, let our quivers be full of arrows, 
our bows all strung, and our hands upon our knives. Take this 
bill of vengeance, that you may be more watchful for the future. 
We give you eye-water to make you sharp sighted, with this third 
belt." 

"We are in the house where we have often met, to renew our 
chain; l)Ut the house has blood ui)on its walls and the doorwav 
is polluted. We have come to wash u]) the blood and clean the 
walls, by this fourth belt." 

''Brethren, we are strong. Our chain is a strong chain, a 
silver chain and can neither rust nor be broken. We do not mean 
to forsake you now that you are in trouble. \'ery soon, when 
the trees begin to bud, and the bark can be parted from the trees. 
our hunters will return from the far country and then we shall be 
a great band of fighting men, ready to fight your battles. We 
are of the race of the Bear, and the Bear, you know, never yields 
while one drop of blood is left. We nuist all be Bears, as typified 
by this fifth belt. 

"Brethren, be i^atient. 'i'his evil which has come upon you 
is a heavy one, but we shall soon have better times. The sun. 
which hath been cloudy, will shine again pleasantly. Take 
courage, courage, courage, brethren, with this sixth belt." 



56 



Old Schenectady. 



When the great orator of the Onondagas had finished, all 
of the other Indians present signified their approval of his 
remarks by a sharp exclamation and one of the elders of the church 
expressed the gratitude of the homeless, grief-stricken little com- 
munity and then the sad duty of burying the dead was begun. 

BEUKENDAAL FIGHT. 

There is no prettier miniature valley scenery in Schenectady 
County than is to be found where the fight with the Indians took 
place in July, 1748, known historically as "The Beukendaal 
Massacre." "Beukendaal" means "beechdale," the fight having 
started in a charming little dale well filled with beech trees. 

"Massacre" is a misnomer, 
for it was anything but 
that. For a fact, it was 
an out-and-out, stand-up 
fight with the settlers the 
attacking party. 





the DeGraaf House, called Beukendaal. 



This "beechdale" is about 
two miles west of Scotia, 
on the northerly side 
of the New York Cen- 
tral railroad, at Hardin's 
Crossing and a glimpse of it may be had from the trolley or 
steam cars as they pass, the red brick school house not far from 
the tracks on the north side being the landmark of the place from 
the view point of the cars. "Beukendaal" begins just behind the 
school. There is another brook, or "kill" as the old Dutch called 



Beukcndaal l-ight. 57 

it, running- through an even more charming and romantic httlc 
dell, a quarter of a mile west of "heechdale"" and parallel with it. 
The stream which runs through it flows over a flat bed of rock. 
In places it flows between miniature cliffs well wooded and is 
broken up into numerous little falls. It was between these two 
charming dales that Abraham De Graaf built the home which was 
temporarily turned into a fort by the white men, when the attack 
of the Indians became too strong for them. 

. The fight with the Indians began with the shooting of Cap- 
tain Daniel Toll, by a party of Indians from Canada, at the upper 
end of "Beukendaal," where he, Dick Van Vorst, and a negro had 
gone to look for some strayed horses. They heard, as they sup- 
posed, the horses stamping in an open space beyond the trees and 
bushes. When they emerged into the open, they were horrified 
to find a party of Indians. Mr. Toll was killed, \an X'orst was 
captured, and the negro fled to Schenectady, a distance of three 
miles, to give the alarm. The firing was herd by Adrian Van 
Slyck at his farm, "Alaalwyck," — now known as the Toll farm, 
about a mile out of Scotia on the River road toward Amsterdam— 
and he too sent word to the town for help. He did not know 
surely that the shooting meant Indians, or that any one had been 
killed, but he did know that Mr. Toll, Mr. Van Vorst and the 
negro were out in that neighborhood looking for strayed horses. 

Four parties of armed men responded to the summons. The 
first was composed of Lieutenant Darling, of Connecticut, and his 
men who were stationed at the fort in the town. The second was 
in command of Auckes Van Slyck ; the third was led by Adrian 
Van Slyck, of Maalwyck, with some of the New York levies; 
while the fourth party was in command of Col. Jacob Glen, Jr., and 
Albert Van Slyck. These four parties, numbering 60 men, did 
not go to "Beukendaal" at the same time, there being an hour 
or more between the arrival of the first and last parties. 

The first of the volunteers to arrive, saw Mr. Toll sitting — 
alive as they supposed— with his back to a fence and in front of 
him was a crow, flying at short distances from him, but not away 



5« 



Old Schenectady. 




from him. This strange sight of a crow remaining near a man 
excited their curiosity; the Indians intended it should, and when 
those in advance rushed forward to find an explanation of the 
strange sight, it was given them in the form of balls from Indian 
muskets. The crow was tied with a thong so that it was a com- 
panion of the dead man against its wdll. These men were 
immediately aware that they were in ambush. Before they could 
recover from their surprise and horror, many of them were killed 

and several cap- 
tured. The sur- 
vivors retreated as 
best they could and 
were supported by 
the arrival oi the 
second party under 
Auckes Van Slyck. 
When Adrian Van 
Slyck arrived with 
his New York 
levies, the sight of 
the Indians and the 
dead lying about 
was too much for 
them. They turned 
and fled, fairly 
pushing the earth 
from them and 
burning the wind 
in their haste to 
reach the safety 
of the town. Albert Van Slyck, brother of Adrian, wdio lead the 
levies, in writing to Colonel William Johnson — afterwards Sir 
William — stigmatized them as cowards. 

Finally, all the four detachments from the town had arrived, 
and the fight becanie as awful and furious as only a hand-to-hand 



boe:ck£mdaal 
174 a 




of Beiikendaal Fight 



Hcukciulaal I'ii^lit. 



59 



lii;hl with Indians could hecome. It was knife, lonialiawk, clubbed 
musket and tigbt Rnger-<;rii)s of throats, wilb the settlers ever 
strivincj to reach the DeOraaf house. 




This was tinallv accomplished and the doors and windows 
were l)arraca(led. The settlers went uv stairs and, makini;- loop- 
holes just under the eaves by pullin,<;- away the boards, made 
thin-s so hot for the Indians that they ke])t out of ranoe ,»f the 
muskets, for they well knew that the men in tlie house were all 
sharp-shooters and that each boom of a smooth bore and crack 
of rifle meant a "good Indian." 

\an \orst, who was captured at the time Mr. DeOraaf was 
killed, was in charge of two youn-' l)ucks who were so greatly 
interested in the f^ght that they neglected their prisoner ; he there- 
fore managed to cut his bonds and escape. When Colonel Jacob 
Olen arrived with the Schenectady militia, tlu- Indians retreated 
<-md started for Can.ida. 

The killed were. Jacob (^len, Jr., Cai.lain iXaniel Toll. I'rans 
Van der I'.ogert. J. I'. \'an Antweri). .\( 



C\.ndc. Adrian \an 



6o Old Schenectady. 

Slyck, John A. Bradt, Johannes Vroonian, Daniel Van Antwerpen, 
Cornehus Viele, Jr., Nicolas DeGraaf, Lieutenant Darling and 
seven of his men. The prisoners, who were taken to Canada, 
were : Harman Veeder, Isaac Truax, Albert J. V'eeder, Frank 
Connor, J. S. Vrooman, Lewis Groot, John Phelps and six of 
the Connecticut soldiers under Lieutenant Darling. 

HISTORIC FIRES. 
1690. 
The only enemy more dreaded by pioneers in the early days, 
than the Indian, was fire, and in the winter of i6yo, the brave 
little pioneer settlement of Schenectady suffered from a combina- 
tion of both enemies, at the same time; for the historical event 
pictured in the geographies of thirty years ago, as "The Burning 
of Schenectady" and which is known in Schenectady historically, 
as "The Massacre," took place in that intensely cold winter, when 
the French and Indians, with musket, knife and tomahawk, killed 
sixty of the inhabitants; and with fire, destroyed all but two of 
the eighty odd buildings within the stockade. Fire was also 
used on the living bodies of some of the wounded, and thirty men 
and youths were taken, as prisoners, to Canada. The two houses 
spared were the ones into which the wounded French officer, de 
Montigny, had been carried; and the other was that of Major 
Glen. Such wholesale destruction of homes and public buildings 
by fire was, in those days, a far greater calamity than would be 
the wiping-out of Schenectady to-day. To-day there would be 
immediate help by public subscription ; those of means sufficient to 
rebuild could soon obtain the material for so doing; but, in 1690, 
the material had to be slowly and laboriously cut down in the 
forest and hewn into timbers ; and in the meantime, as all the men 
were thus employed, there was no one to provide food from the 
forest and the river. That the people remained to repair their 
loss, instead of, broken in spirit, going to other settlements, 
showed the "stuff"' of which the old pioneer settlers were made. 
Schenectady was slow in those days ; it is slow to-day, when com- 
pared with other places; but now, as then, Schenectady is very 
tenacious and sure. 



Historic fires. 6i 

1819. 

The second of Schenectady's great fires was in 1819, and the 
g-rcatest from the standpoint of territory burned, but not from 
any other; for the destruction of 1690 nearly annihilated the 
inhabitants as well as the buildings of the little community. 

This fire started in a tan-yard, down toward the end of Mill 
lane, in the vicinity of what is now the continuation of Ferry 
street, where the long-since disused Conde Mill stands. There 
was a strong wind blowing from the south and the fire spread 
with terrific rapidity — the more so, as nearly all of the buildings 
were of wood, and the method and means of fighting fires in those 
days were most primitive. 

In 1819, the law required each inlial)itanl to provide and 
keep in their houses leathern fire-buckets. pr()])erly marked and 
luimbered, so that they could be returned to their custodians. As 
soon as there was an alarm of fire, the people were required to set 
these fire-buckets out in front of their houses, so that those who 
composed the volunteer fire department and such other citizens 
as should give assistance, might find them. The l)est work was 
then done by a bucket-line, consisting of firemen and citizens, 
formed in line to the nearest water — whether it was river, cistern 
or well — when the filled buckets were passed from hand to hand 
and returned in the same way, empty. So it is easily seen that to 
stop the progress of so great a fire, forced onward by so strong 
a wind, with such ]irimitive fire-fighting a])paratus, was impos- 
sible. Soon, the flames had reached State street and then they 
turned down toward Washington avenue and through Cluu"ch, to 
Union and Front streets, not burning every building in its course ; 
for the buildings were set on fire by flaming brands blown by 
the wind, .so there were, here and there, buildings which escaped. 

In 1819, Schenectady was a river-port, the first west of 
Albany, so that all freights, going west from the Hudson river 
points, were conveyed to Schenectady in wagons and loaded up 
on boats for the trip up the Mohawk ; and the reverse was the 
order, when the products of the western part of the State were 



Historic Fires. 63 

I)cino- shipped east. The shore along the main l>inni Kill that is. 
I'.iat branch of the river lying hack of Washington avenue, was 
Hned with great storehouses and mercantile estal)lisliments. In 
fact, tht wholesale and retail trade of the city was in the vicinil}- 
of Washington avenue and iM-onl street. Tliere were also, con- 
siderable l)()at-huilding yards along the Hinni Kill and on the 
main river hack of Front street. The great hre of iSkj changed 
all this, for when rebuilding operations began, the business-center 
of Schenectady moved up town; and up town, in those days, was 
between Ferry street and the spot where the canal is. The old 
business-center then became, as it is now and ])robal)l\' will be for 
manv generations to come, the hnest residential portion of the 
citv. This is as it should be; for th.-re is not a s(|uare foot of the 
ground, bounded by I'nion and Front streets and Washington 
;!venue and Ferrv streets, about which, at least, one item of 
historical interest, or old family-anecdote and tradition, ctjuld not 
hi' written. 

There is n.ow living in th.is cit\', in 11)04, one resident, who 
distinctly remembers the fact of this hre of iSio- That is Col. 
J. Andrew UarliN-dt, of Xo. 7 Ch.urch sireet, who. in his ninety- 
tirst \tar, recalls the excitement of the year, when he was hut five 
years old. 

1861. 

In its iMre l)e])artment, Schenectady has ever been foriunate, 
from the organization of its first conijjany and the fact that its 
])er ca])ita loss, by fire, has always been less than in any other 
city n{ the State. It is evident that Schenectady has had reason 
lo boast of and to be ])rou(l of its hre-hghters. 

While the i)icture of I'rotcction Hose I louse, .\"o. 1. ami ihe 
men who belonged to it is not old, wdien com])arei! with the cit}- 
and some of its families, it is ancient, as far as the V'nv Depart- 
ment is concerned, for it was taken in i S^h). 

in icSfK^, the pers(jns who had the lemerilv to drive, for 
pleasure, about the streets of the city, were bounced over the old- 
fashioned cobble-stones, which chiefh came from the farms of 




Organised in 1800. 



Hisloric Fires. 65 

• ilciuillc. The farmer who hroui^hl 111 a load of these stones, 
ijl-athered from farm land on the sand plains above the fertile river 
ilats, was not recjuired to ])ay toll at the bridge connecting Glen- 
ville with the city. 

In i860, the !nen wore l)ell-crowned stove] )ipe hats and the 
women wore "waterfalls" and wide-spread hoopskirts. They 
drank Mohawk ri\-er water and never guessed that it was not tit 
for washing in, to sa\' nothing about drinking it ; and the resultant 
diseases, which fattened the purses of the physicians, were not 
traced to microbes or germs of the Mohawk. 

Tn i860, railroads and the telegraph were an established 
success : but the man with sufficient imagination to suggest the 
telephone ; the ability to send electrical messages from England 
to America through the air and to make the wireless system of 
telegraphing a commercial necessity, woidd have excited the 
sympathy of his friends and relatives, on account of his sad 
mental condition. The trolley car. automobile, phonograph : the 
transmission of power from Niagara and the upper waters of the 
TTudson over many miles of territory for manufacturing purposes, 
were not. in t86o. even items of a wine-sui)per nightmare. 

Tn t86o. Schenectady was the broom-corn center of the world, 
and the making of brooms was its greatest industry. Had any of 
tlie men in the grou]) of old-time firemen, been told that broom 
corn-raising and broom-making woidd dwindle to tiny pro]ior- 
tions, and that the locomotives works woidd make engines for 
Janan : that it woidd receive and fill orders for frftv. a hundred, 
and even two himdred engines from individual railroads. the\ 
would have expressed their pity for the dreamer in strong terms. 
TTad some one predicted a iilant in Schenectadv for the manu- 
facture of engines to be driven by capture<l lightning, they 
woidd. probablv. have fled to the woods, as the only refuge from 
such maniacs: and sh<nild the same per.son have predicted that 
tills plant would employ twelve thousand persons and pay them 
$600,000 evcrv month — well, even the imagination of the twentieth 
centurv cannot coniectnrc what would have happened. 



66 



Old Schenectady. 



The men, who were menihers of Protection Hose, when this 
i^^roup was taken, did their fuH sliare in fighting one of the three 
historical fires of Schenectady. (Jn August 4, 1861, at 3 o'clocis; 
in the afternoon, fire was discovered in the broom-shop of Otis 
vSmith, which stood on the rear of the lot where Mr. Whitmyre's 
residence is, at the corner of Washington avenue and Front street. 
A strong gale was blowing from the west that day. and it was 
not long before the buildings Ixtween the burning shop and the 




IKbl. Burning i,f First Dutch Reformed Church. Corner Union ,i,ul Church Streets. 

Scotia bridge, with but one exception, were destroyed. Then, 
some one discovered that a blazing brand had lieen carried from 
the broom-shop to the tower of the First Reformed Church, two 
blocks away, on the corner of Union and Church streets, and that 
the church was a mass of flames. 



Historic Fires. 67 

The men wcro already nearly exhausted, lor the labor of 
working- the l)reaks on one of those old-fashioned hand fire- 
engines was hearl-lM-eaking. W ord was sent to Troy and Albany 
that help was needed, and Troy responded by getting an engine 
to Schenectady, while the church was still burning. The wind 
increased in its pcnver. and another brand was carried from the 
church wav up to 117 South Center street, near the corner of 
Franklin street. This building was burned and, finally, when 
another brand set fire to the l>uilding on Xott terrace, just .south 
of the German Church, the men. wlio had been working steadily 
for hours, were nearly ready to dro]). but they continued and 
eventually stopped further destruction. 

Protection Hose-house stood on the south side of State 
street, the first building from the corner of Center street. The 
names of the men in the group are as follows : T. W. McCamus, 
Ephraim Clowe, deceased ; T. R. Brow, decased ; J. J. Spier, J. B. 
Henry, deceased; George Hardin, deceased; J. E. Taylor, 
deceased; A Wilhelm, J. J. Giles. Dan Daley, deceased; J- J. 
Parker, J. W. ^^lais, George Shaible, all deceased; J. B. Mar.sh. 
Clinton C. P.rown. \\\ Lawrence. Alex. McMillen, A. Ward, J. 
W. Cleveland. .\. B. Swift. E. Rolft', M. B. \"an Patten. J. 
Stevens, 1. B.radt. J. W. Sanders, Joseph Case. Charles Wilson, 
John Bronk, Charles Banna, Marcus .\hreet, D. M. Putnam. 
David Revnolds, deceased ; E. Fink, Fred Dunbar. J. H. Wheelock, 
fohn Gow, j. Long, William Ades. J. E. Hill. Wilson Davis. 
P.hn Wendell. [. 1. C Fort. ( ). S. EutTman. C. W. Sanders. J. 
Hewis, and the following, all of these deceased; E. W. Lien. John 
Vedder, Frederick Vedder, 1. \'. Reagles, Giles Marlette, Vedder 
Van Patten, Jacob DeForest. Isaac Cain. C. P.. Swart. Charles 
Wallev. Howard Barringer. E. E. Lindley. J. H. Draper. H. X. 
\'edder. J. A. \an Zandt. Palmer Egleston, and W\ L. Goodrich. 



Chapter IV. 
Ancient Dwellings, 



MABIE HOUSE. 




F THE very old hovise still standing on the Brandy wine 
mill property was not built by Adam Vrooman, the 
hero of the massacre, then the Mabie house, near 
Rotterdam Junction, is the oldest dwelling standing 
in Schenectady County. As this point in connection 
with the Vrooman house, will never be settled any 
more dehnitely than it is now, it is safe to give to the 
Mabie house the title of "Oldest." 
The date of its erection is not known, nor have 
historians been able to do more than ascertain beyond doul)t that 
it was standing as early as 1706. The house stands on a bluff 
on the south bank of the Mohawk river seven miles above the 
city, on the deepest part of a great curve, so that a grand view up 
and down the river and across to the charming Glenville hills, may 
be had. 

This old house is built of heavy stones c|uarried from the 
hillside. The walls are laid without mortar, just as a stone wall 
is built, only the fitting of the stones was much more carefully 
attended to. The outside is pointed with mortar and the inside 
plastered. These heavy stone walls are built to the height of one 
story and then comes the typical Dutch peaked roof with the 
second story and attic in it. As in all of the old houses and 
mansions, the timbers are massive. The floor of the second 
storv is made of thick ]:)lank or hewn timbers with the lower side, 
which forms the ceiling of the first floor, planed smooth. Even 
die window frames are made of timl^er. Major MacMurray, the 
editor of Pearson's History of the Schenectady Patent, who was 



Mabie House. 



69 



also an historical mvcstig-ator of repute 011 his own acccMUit. liad 
reason to believe from the slight hints he was able to obtain from 
old documents, that this house was built when D. J. Van Antwerp 




M,lh,r ll',u> 



received the patent for the farm upon which the old Mabie house 
stands. This would fix its erection between the years 1670 and 
ir)8o. 

Jan Pieterse Mabie was an early settler in the village of 
Schenectady, his village lot being on Church street next to the lot 
upon which the First Dutch Church stands, on the north side of 
it. It included the two pieces of property known as the Washing- 
ton and I'.enjamin proi)erty, that is, the residences of Mrs. Wash- 
ington and Mrs. I'.enjamin arc on the old Mabie property, which 
in his days had a frontage on Church street of 108 feet and a 
depth of 206. That he lived on this property, before 1690, is 
shown by a paper confirming his ownership, given by the trustees, 
l)ecause the original deed was burnt on the night of the massacre, 
1 690. 




The Artnt Bradt House, Surth Side Stale Street near fi^aihinglon .-/i 



Bradt House. 



71 



jan .\Ial)ic owned a farm of sixt_\ -throe acres on the south 
siile of the river where the oKl h.ouse stands. 'Phis he purchased 
from D. J. \ an Antwerp in i/of) and it is stiU in the Mahie family 
ahhough not now occupied hy memhers of it. jan Mahie 
was a considerahle owner of projierty elsewhere. The Ahjhawks 
gave him land on both sides of Schoharie creek. His wife, Anna 
i)Orsl)oom. owned property consisting of farm land and a village 
lot on the south-east corner of Front street and Washington 
avenue, all of which she inherited from her father, and Mahie 
owned farm land on the ojjposite side of the river from the old 
house called Wolf tiat near what is now known as Wolf hollow. 
Later he became possessed of considerable pasture land between 
Front street and the river. 

BRADT HOUSE. 

The Bradts of Schenectady are descended from .\renl 
Andriese Bradt who, with his brother Albert settled in Albany, 
Arent later going to Schenectady as one of the original proprietors, 
in 1662. He died that year, leaving his wife and six children, 
three of whom were boys, .Andries, Samuel and Dirk. 

The first son was a brewer at the time of the massacre when 
he was killed by tlu- Indians. His son Arent and a daughter sur- 
vived him. This son was known later in life as Ca])tain .\rent 
llradt who was one <)f the distingtiished and wealthiest men of 
his day. He was a brewer like his father and built the old i'.radi 
house on lowx^r State street, near Washington avenue which wa> 
standing as late as i8()5. Captain l'>radt was a member of the 
Provincial .Assembly in 1745 and a trustee of Schenectady for 
hfty-two years, from 1715 to 17()7, the latter being the year 01 
his death. 

The claim to ownership, instead of trusteeship, has been 
referre<l to elsewhere, biU it was not stated that Captain Bradt did 
more than anyone else to sustain the policy of 'AVe" as op])Osed 
to that of "1." of the Fifteen Original Proprietors. Ryer 
Schermerliorn was the trustee who tried to set U]) the claim of 



72 



Old Scheiiecfady. 



personal ownership and although he was a relative of Captain 
Bradt, he, the captain, made a will of such nature that it would 
prevent him or any one from successfully setting up such a claim 
in the future. Ryer Schermerhorn and several illegitimate 
trustees whom he appointed to succeed his father, did later start 
a suit in this same matter and the will of Captain P»radt was the 
stronghold of the ])eople. Captain liradt left a considerable 
fortune to his three sons, Andries, joha'ines and Harmanus, the 




Bradt House, Built in 1736. 



latter, in trade with the Indians, becoming" one of the wealthy men 
of the place and times. These three sons continued to live on the 
property which formed the original village lot on lower State 
street. 

Samuel Bradt, a brother of Arent Bradt. the first of the name 
in Schenectady, left his farm of thirty acres to his son, Arent 
Bradt, who built a brick house upon it previous to or in the year 
of 1736, for a brick in the front of this house bears his name and 
that date. This house is still standing and in good re])air, near 



l^rooitan House. 



73 



tlie city pumping station in Rotterdam and just north of tlic home 
of the late Congressman Simon Schermerhorn, and owned hy his 
heirs. It is a good sample of the early Dutch farm house and 




Lau Kighteenth Century Mhiia 

the characteristic manner 




shows the characteristic manner of laying brick, which was 
popular with the Dutch. The IJradts were all owners of consider- 
;il)le property in farm lands and village lots. 



VROOMAN HOUSE. 

The X'roomans of New York State are all descended from 
Ilendrick Mees V'roonian, who. with two brothers. Peter and 
jacol), came to the Dutch Colony previous to 1677, in which year 
Hendrick moved to Schenectady and purchased forty acres of the 
\'an Curler farm, a narrow strip beginning near Water street 
and extending across the lowland to where the canal and New 
^'ork Central Railroad now is. back to near the bluff, east of 
Center street. His village lot was on State street, between Center 
street and the westerly tracks of the New York Central Railroad. 
As the brothers died without leaving children. Hendrick was the 
founder of the family. Harmaus was killed in the massacre. 

Adam. Hendrick's son, was born in Holland in 1649 and in 
his twentieth year was, by his own wish, bound to Cornelis \'an 
den Berg, of Albany, who taught him the trade of millwright. 
Adam's wages were of a size to cause heart failure : $1,2 and a 
jtair of new shoes the first year and $48 the second year. 

1 fe built a mill for himself on the Sand Kill at the termination 
of his ai)prenticcsliii) — where the pond bordering IJrandywine 



74 Old Schenectady. 

park is located — and if the old Dutch house, still standing- and in 
good repair, was built by him, it is the oldest dwelling, now used 
as such, in the state. According to the opinion of the late Judg;e 
John Sanders, the historian, there is every reason to believe that 
Adam X'rooman did build this house near his mill. It is a matter 
of fact, that he built the mill; obtained a patent for the Sand Kill 
lands from the Trustees of Scheneclad}- in 1708; that his grand- 
son, Isaac, died in the house in 1707 ; and that Adam's descendants 
occupied the house and property as late as 1807. so it is quite 
probable that Judge Sander's belief is fact. 

In the attack by the French and Indians in ifM^o. Adam. 
V'rooman was the only one of the settlers who deliberately planned 
a defence of his home ; the other settlers seemed to be too over- 
come by the surprise and the horror of the night to do anything 
definite for their defence. Adam barracaded his home and fottght 
so desperately that the commander of the French ])romised him 
safety if he would surrender, a promise the more readily agreed to 
by the Indians as he was well known by the Mohawks through his 
brother-in-law — that \'an Slvck whose mother was the daughter 
of a chief — and there was the additional reason for l:»eing willing 
to spare him. that he was a frierid of the Glens. Adam's wife 
and child, his father and brother were killed in the massacre and 
his two sons. Parent and W'outcr. were taken to Canada as cap- 
tives of the enemy. 

Adam X'rooman owned a great deal of property. He owned 
the site of the present village of Middleburgh, and in 1715 began 
to build a stone house upon it, two stories high. This house was 
torn down, one night. In' Conrad W'eiser and his Palatine fol- 
lowers, so .Adam returned to Schenectady to live. He had thirteen 
children to wh(im lie left a large estate and an enviable rei)Utati()n. 
his (k'ath occurring in b'ebruary, 1730, at the age of eighty-one 
\ears. 

The \'roomans of the old days were men of large frame and 
great strength. Especially were the four grandsons of Adam: 
Peter. Samuel, Isaac and Cornelius, known for nian\' miles about 



/ 'rooiuan House. 75 

for their ^MX-at streni^tli. Samuel ami Cornelius, tradition says, 
as a test of what they could do, each carried between eight and 
nine hundred pounds a distance of about one hundred feet. A 
sister of these husky boys was also possessed of great strength for 
a woman and a degree of courage that was remarkable. One 
day, a man. who was given to quarreling, was talking with her 
father and one of her brothers when strong words were passed 
from one to the other and back again with interest added. Miss 
\'rooman, fearing that should either her father or brother lay 
their hands upon the man he would be seriously injured or possibly 
killed, gathered him up in her arms and threw him out of the 
house through the doorway. 

That the \rooman family is numerous and that meml)ers of 
the family are to be found in nearly every state of the Tnion, 
although descended from one American ancestor, may be 
attributed to the very large families of the immediate descendants 
of Hendrick Mees X'rooman, the original ancestor. 




chapter V, 
Churches. 



FIRST DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH. 

^^^^^ FIE first Dutch Reformed Church building in Schenec- 

^1^ tady was built at the expense of Alexander Lindsey 

Glen in 1684 and given by him to the little community. 

When the men who settled Schenectady in 1662 

A were paving the way for the founding of one of the 
oldest and most respectable Dutch Churches in Xew 
York State, there were but five churches in the whole 
Colony. They were in New York, Brooklyn, Flat- 
'■^^™" bush, Kingston, and Albany, or, Xew Aiusterdam, 
Breuckleyn, Alidwout-and-Amersfort, Esopus, Beverwyck, as 
they were then called. 

Although there was no church building till 1684, there must 
have been a church organization several years before that date, 
for the Rev. Gideon Schaets, the second pastor of the Dutch 
Church in Albany, journeyed from that city to Schenectady once 
in three months to administer the sacraments. This was in i67<), 
and it is probable that the organization was earlier even than this 
date. As to the meeting places : the living room in every house 
was at the disposal of the community for purposes of religious 
worship, but the probability is, that on the rare occasions when 
there was a minister over from Albany, the services were in the 
large room of the fort, or the blockhouse in the fort. 

The first minister of the Church, the Rev. Petrus Thcss- 
chenmaeker, was called to Schenectady in 1682, according to one 
authority. This would make it appear that he began his pastoral 
duties at least a year and ])ossibly two years before the church 
building was erected by Mr. Glen. During the six years of .his 



I'irst Dnlch Rcfonncd Church. 77 

liasioralc, the liny church organization grew numerically and in 
finances. As a matter of fact the First Dutch Reformed Church 
of Schenectady was in a healthy condition si)iritually and tempo- 
lallv from the start and has continued to increase in strength 
down to the present day. This has been in the face of the 
\icissitudes of the times and speaks volumes for the make-up of 
ihe congregation, its only strife was with the enemies of 
Almighty God and of the Colony. 

The French and Indian raid of 1690, which resulted in 
ihe burning of Schenectady, was the first heavy blow to the con- 
gregation. Xot only was their church Iniilding burned, but their 
faithful minister was horribly killed and his body burned. It 
seems, however, the French commander had given orders that 
the minister was to be kept alive, as it was hoped some important 
information, desired h\ the French, could be obtained from him; 
if not l)y persuasion, at least by Indian torture. 

The times were uncertain and people were menaced with 
dangers, so there was no religious service led by a minister from 
the terrible night of February Sandg, 1690, till 1694. when the Rev. 
Godfriedus Dellius. of Albany, occasionally visited Schenectady 
during the five succeeding years, he making eighteen visits in 
that time. In iTk^o. the Rev. J. P. Nucella. who succeeded ^Ir. 
Dellius in Albany after the return to Holland of the latter, con- 
tinued the visits to Schenectady. In the time these two ministers 
were visiting Schenectady, seventy-six children were baptized, 
seven of the number being Indian children, twenty-five persons 
joined the clnn-ch, and tw^elve couples were married. The peace 
of Rvswick in 1697. began a new era for the people of the 
liarrassed settlement and for the church. In 1700 the Rev. 
P.arnardus Freeman became the second minister. 

Mr. Freeman was. in addition to being the minister of the 
Church, missionary to the Mohawk Indians. This office of 
missionary to the Mohawks was not alone of religious importance. 
for it was as much the dutv of the missionary to keep then- 
allegiance to the King and especially to the Governor of the 



78 Old Schenectady. 

•Colony as it was to convert them. Mr. Freeman was a man of 
mature years and of studious habit. When he found how neces- 
sary it was to be able to preach and talk to the Mohawks in their 
own tongue, he set himself to learn the language. This he did 
and could write as well as speak it. He gained such a strong 
hold upon that sentiment in the Indians, which in a white man 
would be called affection, that after he had been away from 
Schenectady five years — his pastorate ended in 1705 — they asked 
the Governor to appoint him to be located at their Castle. 

The minister of Schenectady received a salary of $250 a year 
in those days, with house and garden and pasture for his cows and 
horse, free. There was also a donation of sixty cords of fire wood. 
As there were not more than two hundred and fifty inhabitants in 
1700 it will be seen that the pay of the minister was large when 
their number is considered, and of course, not all of these were 
adults. 

In 1701, Governor Xanfan granted permission to the church 
to seek subscriptions from all over the Colony for the building of 
a new church, to replace the original one given by Mr. Glen, 
which was burned by the French and Indians in 1690. The 
money was obtained and the second church building was erected 
upon the site of the first, at the junction of State, Water and 
Church streets. It covered a ground s])ace of fortx-six l)y fifty- 
six feet and was finished before the end of 1703. It was used as 
a church till 1734 when it was given up by the congregation and 
was used as a fort. 

Mr. Freeman's departure in 1705 was a serious event for 
the people, for besides everything else which made it desirable 
that he should remain, he had so far won the confidence of the 
Mohawks that he had considerable influence with them. For 
ten years, till 171 5, the congregation liad no minister settled over 
it, but in the ten years two ministers from Albany — the Revs. 
Johannes Lydius and Petrus Van Driessen ; Petrus Vas, of 
Kingston ; and Gaulterius DuBois, of New York, made twenty- 



I'irsI Dutch Rcjoimcd Church. 



79 



four \isils to tlic cluircli in ScIkmiccUuIn , one hundred and fifty- 
two children l)einy- chiistcned, nineteen of the number being- 
Indians. 

The third nunislc^r \va> the Rev. Thomas r>rou\ver. his 
jiastorate Ijeginning in Jul\. 1714- ll<^~ Nvas in charge of the 
congreo;ation till his death on January 15. 1728. 

The Rev. Reinhardus Erichzon was the fourth minister, his 
pastorate beginning on March 30. 1728, and ending- in October, 
1736. In his ])astorate the vigorous little clun-ch became greatl\- 
increased in numl)ers and its finances were so much improved that 




\Thr Orii^inal Ihitch Reformed Chureh. 



a reallv i)retentious clun-ch building was erected and this was 
done without seeking aid from outside. This church buddmg — 
shown in the picture — was built of stone at a cost ui $2,919.73. 



8o Old Schenectady. 

one-third of that sum having been collected from the people of 
the valley. This was the third church building. It was situated 
at the junction of Union and Church streets in the center of the 
streets, not on a lot. The material was shale-like stone, bear- 
ing traces of sandstone, and was obtained near the village. The 
building was eighty by fifty-six feet. 

In 1732 the work was begun by Hendrick Vrooman who 
was the "baas," (incidentally, this Dutch word is the origin of 
modern "boss" and it meant exactly the same thing in Dutch that 
it does to-day in English), and a considerable gang of workmen 
under him, seventeen of the whole number being carpenters. 
The record says that Vrooman received seven shillings and the 
other workmen from five to six shillings a day, but whether the 
.-hillings were Sterling or York is not stated. If the former, the 
pay was good, $1.75 for the boss and $1.25 and $1.50 for the 
workmen, being higher than is paid to-day, everything considered. 
This church had a gambrel roof, a bell and clock tower and two 
entrances, one on the side toward the east facing Union street, 
and the other on the south end. The former was the main 
entrance and opposite it, high up against the wall on a single 
pedestal was the pulpit and directly over it was the sounding 
board. The arrangement gave the appearance of a gigantic 
jack-in-the-box when the preacher had mounted the steps to the 
l)arrel-shaped pulpit and the suspended sounding board resembled 
tlie lid. The curious old custom of separating the men from the 
women obtained. The men, being of finer clay ( ?), occupied 
raised seats along the sides of the church while the mothers, wives 
and daughters were seated on more lowly resting places in the 
l)ody of the church, where the men could obtain a good raking 
view of them, but they could not look at the men without turning 
their heads. In front of the pulpit was a railed-ofif space where 
the minister stood when administering the sacrament of baptism. 

The seats were rented to men for five shillings and to 
women for four shillings a year. A seat was the property of 
the person who paid the rent and it belonged to his heirs after 



First Dutch Reformed Church. 



8i 




his death. Should the rent not be paid, the seat was re-let to 
someone else, the new occupant paying a fee of twelve shillings 
in addition to the annual i)ayment. Failure to pay the rent was 
the only cause of forfeiture. In 1734 there were eighty-si.x 
men's seats and two hundred and eighteen women's. This 
causes one to wonder if the women were in that proportion in 
excess of the men, or if then as now, the women were chiefly the 
church goers. 

From the building of the church till fifty- 
eight years afterward there was no 
means of heating it in winter save by 
the old-fashioned foot- 
warmers, and these were 
only of good to the in- 
dividual whose feet 

A Church -Furnace- of 200 years a^o, in the Sunders Manswn. fCStcd OU OUC. 

In 1740, the church had a IjcU and a clock in its tower. The 
bell was in use till 1848 when it was cracked and became useless. 

On August 3. 1743 the church was chartered. The object of 
this was to give the congregation corporate ])owers m the 
matter of its real estate. For more than fifty years the church 
had been accumulating property, but the church as such could 
neither hold, sell nor ])urchase, as it had no legal existence, hence 
the charter. 

For the four years after the Rev. Mr. Erickzon left, the Church 
had no settled minister, but the sacraments were administered and 
the pulpit supplied, by two Albany ministers, the Reverends Van 
Schie and Wan Dresser. In November, 1736, the Church sent to 
Holland for a minister, a salary of iioo a year being promised 
from the time he left Holland but. althcuigh two years were spent 
in an effort to secure a minister, the representatives of the Clnu-eh 
were not successful. In November, 1738, Levinus Clarks..n and 
John Livingston being in Holland, were authorized to make 
renewed efforts to secure a minister and another two years passed 



82 Old Schenectady. 

without anything being accomphshed. The Church then deter- 
mined to find a minister at home so, the Rev. Cornells Van Sant- 
voord was cahed from the Staten Island Dutch Reformed Church, 
where he had been settled for twenty-two years. The Staten 
Island Church demanded to be reimbursed for the expense of 
bringing Mr. Van Santvoord from Holland, the Schenectady 
Church objected but, finally, the matter was compromised and he 
came to Schenectady in August, 1740. His wife, who was a 
daughter of John Staats, of Staten Island, died in 1744, and Mr. 
Van Santvoord remarried in 1745, his second wife being Elizabeth 
Toll, of Schenectady. She died in 1747, childless. Mr. Van 
Santvoord was a man of cultivation and an excellent minister. 
He was a fluent speaker in the English, Dutch and French 
languages. In the twelve years he was pastor, the membership 
was increased by 151 ; 174 couple were married ; 645 children were 
baptized. His death occurred suddenly, after but a week's illness, 
on January 6, 1752. Then there was another period in which 
the Church had no minister, this time for three years, the pulpit 
being occasionally supplied by the Revs. Theo. Frelinghuysen, of 
Albany, and Barent Vrooman, of New Platz. 

The death of the minister, Mr. Van Santvoord, occurred in 
January, 1752 and from that date till 1755 the congregation was 
without a minister, the occasional preaching being done by 
ministers from Albany and other places. In 1753 a new parsonage 
was built on the same site, now the site of the church, as the 
former occupied. It was built of brick, two and a half stories 
high, the brick being made by Jacob \"an Vorst. 

On November 17, 1754, the Rev. Barent Vrooman was 
installed as the sixth minister of the church. Mr. Vrooman was 
born in Schenectady, on December 24, 1725, and was the great- 
grandson of the original settler of that name. He was the first 
person born in the Colony and the onh- one born in Schenectady, 
who became the minister of the church. He was the eleventh 
child of Wouter Vrooman, who was taken a captive to Canada, 
by the French, the da}' after the massacre of 1690. 



first Dutch Reformed Church. 83- 

^\r. Vrooman beg;an his theological studies under the Rev. 
Cornelis \'an Santvoord and finished them inKler _the Rev. 
Theodore Frelinghuysen, of Albany. In 1751, he went to 
Holland to continue his theological education, in the University 
of l^trecht. He received his license to preach in January, 1752, 
and was ordained by the classis of I'trecht in March, 1753, and 
scon after returned to America. After a brief visit with relatives 
in vSchtnectady, be began his duties as minister, in New Platz, 
in August, 1753. The congregation included Xew Platz, Shawan- 
guiiiv and Wallkil and the parish extended over a territory of 200 
s(|uare miles. The corner stone of the Dutch Reformed Church 
of Xew Platz was laid by Mr. Vrooman and the building is still 
worshipped in. In the month following his installation, as 
minister of the New Platz Church, the First Dutch Reformed 
Church of Schenectady gave him a call. 

The official call to Schenectady was a long, complicated, com- 
plex affair, more like a legal document, drawn for the purpo.se 
of confusing and impressing the iminitiated, than a sim]-)le 
invitation from the congregation of a church, to a minister, to come 
there as its minister. The title of the call alone required forty-five 
words. The call proper, starts off with the seemingly before 
unknown fact, that the Supreme Being rules all things as He wills ; 
that "His adorable good pleasure" — in causing the death of the 
pastor — is, "our great grief." It then pays several pretty compli- 
ments to ■Mr. Vrooman and his family and makes the rather 
ambiguous statement that the call was given to Mr. X'rooman "in 
fear of the Lord." The full official title of the Church is then 
given with the names of the members of the Consistory with the 
statement, that he was to administer his office in accordance with 
the rules of the Synod of Dordrecht. Thus the call was mailc, 
but by no means finished, for. then the business part of the tran- 
.saction was taken up exliaustively. Mis "Reverence" was told 
what he will be expected to do and when he was to do it : how 
much bis salary would be and the number and kind of his i)er- 
quisites. \'ery near the end. he is given the following title. 



First Dutch Reformed Church. 85 

which, if used while introducing several persons, would permit 
the first introduced to become decrepit before the last person had 
been presented. The title was : "The Reverend-pious-and-learned 
liarent Vrooman.'' 

This by no means ended the complications of so simple a 
matter as the inviting- of a man to become the minister of a church, 
for the expenses connected with a call were large. They were 
borne by the church which gave the call. In the case of the call to 
the Rev. 15arent X^rooman, the Church paid £225 or $5(33. The 
items will be of interest as sliowing how really serious a thing 
it was in those good old days to hire a new minister. 

Cornelius Van Slyck and Isaac Vrooman were paid £5-12-0 
for delivering the call. 

Joseph R. Yates, for the use of his horse by Philip Reylie, 
for twelve days, while he was making inquiry in regard to the 
coming of Mr. Vrooman, was paid i 1-4-0. 

To Gerret H. Lansing and Joseph R. Yates * * * 
sent to New York to request Do. Vrooman's dismission by the 
Coetus there, in the presence of Do. Wooman, which was fruit- 
less, i6-8-o. 

The "Skipper" was paid £1-13-0 for bringing Mr. Vrooman's 
goods from New York to Schenectady. 

Abraham Mabie and Isaac Vrooman brought the new 
minister from New Platz to Schenectady and were paid £12-0-0, 
they having been gone sixteen days with their horses. 

Claas Van Patten for shoeing a horse, £2-6-0. 

It required three ministers to dismiss Mr. Vrooman and to 
write the call and they were paid £10-0-0 for so doing. Now this is 
probably the secret of the ponderousness of the call, for when 
three ministers put their heads together, they are apt to think in 
whole paragraphs. 

£4-10-0 was paid for the hiring of a sloop to bring some of 
the new minister's goods up from Sopus. 

Abraham Mabie's and Isaac Vrooman's traveling expenses 
were £2-7-2. 



86 Old Schenectady. 

"To £50 in satisfaction of a horse from the churches for Do. 
Vrooman. 

£19-14-0 were paid to the Xew Platz church and £66-6-0 to 
the churches of Shawangunk and Wahkil, and £43-0-0 to the 
New Platz Consistory, seennngly, because they liad lost their 
minister. 

The Rev. Barent Vrooman married Alida, a daughter of 
David Vander Heyden, of Albany, in January, 1760. Their three 
children were, David, Maria and Walterus. Mr. \>ooman was 
a man of commanding presence, being six feet, four and a half 
inches tall and was broad and finely proportioned. He was a 
forcible and vigorous preacher, who was so full of his subject 
and loved it so well, that his sermons were delivered without 
notes. He was warm hearted, affectionate and, as a preacher, 
possessed the power of appealing to the affectionate and emotional 
side of his auditors. In his social relations, he was genial and 
charming. A call from the dominie was a pleasure in each home 
of his parish and out of it. Mr. Vrooman's health failed in 1780, 
and four years later his condition was so serious that the Rev. 
Dirck Romeyn was called as assistant minister. Mr. Vrooman 
died in November, 1784, at the age of hfty-nine years. His wife 
survived him fifty years and died at the great age of 99, in 1823. 

The successor of the Rev. Barent Vrooman was his assistant, 
the Rev. Dirck Romeyn, who came to Schenectady in August, 
1784, and was the seventh minister. With him came new customs 
and ideas in the Church and City. In the Church, the Dutch 
language divided the honors in the service and preaching, with 
the English language. The minister's salary was considerabh' 
increased and a second minister was called, as the parish was so 
large and the parishioners so widely scattered. In the city, great 
advancement was made in the schools and general educational 
interests, chiefly through the personal efforts of Mr. Romeyn. 

Dirck Romeyn was born in that old Dutch village of Hacken- 
sack. New Jersey. His early education was obtained under the 
instruction of his older brother, the Rev. Thomas Romeyn, who 



First DiifcJi Reformed CJiurch. 87 

was minister of the Dutch Reformed Churches on the Delaware, 
and under that of the Rev. Dr. J. H. Goetschius, of Hackensack. 
With these two tutors he prepared for Princeton College, entered 
in 1763, and was graduated in 1765. In his seventeenth year 
he became a church member and decided upon the ministry as 
his life's work. His examination in theology lasted for two days 
and resulted in his ordination in May, 1766, by the Revs. J. H. 
Goetsching and John Schureman, as minister of the united 
churches of Rochester, Alarbletown and W'awarsinck. He 
remained there throughout the Revolutionary war. a staunch 
patriot and fearless champion of the princi])le of no taxation with- 
out representation. 

After peace wath the old country had been declared, in 1784, 
Mr. Romcyn wa« formally called to Schenectady, and a good 
thing it was for Schenectady that he was called, for Union College- 
was located in Schenectady through his efforts. His salary was 
$350, house, pasture for two cows and a horse and seventy cords 
of fire wood delivered on his premises. The salary was increased 
to $500 in 1796, and in 1798 to $625, on account of the high cost 
of living. 

Mr. Romeyn was large like his predecessor, Mr. Vrooman, 
stately in manner with a dignified and pleasing presence. Unlike 
Mr. Vrooman, Mr. Romeyn was governed by his intellect rather 
than his heart and as a preacher he appealed more to the mind 
than to the emotions, but at the same time, his elociuence often had 
a powerful effect upon his auditors. 

Within a few months after his installation Mr. Romeyn began 
to devote his great energy to the improvement of the educational 
interests of the city. That the Schenectady Academy was begun 
in 1785, was almost entirely due to his efforts. 

In 1794, the membershi]) of the church was so large, it being 
the only Reformed Church in the town, and the territory covered 
by the homes of the members, being so extensive, that one 
minister could not attend to all of the pastoral duties, so an 
assistant was called. The pay was a salary- of $500. paslm-e for 



88 Old Schenectady. 

two cows and a horse, or, in lieu $62 yearly, and half the per- 
quisites of the office. 

The Rev. Nicholas Van Vranken, of Fishkill, was called but 
he refused, because a house was not included. Jacob Sickles, a 
theological student was appointed. He began his duties in 
October, 1795, and ended them in the summer of 1797. From this 
year till 1802, Mr. Romeyn was without an assistant. In 1802 
Mr. Romeyn's health had so greatly failed that, by mutual con- 
sent, his salary was reduced to $520 a year and he was only 
required to preach once on Sunday, in the Dutch language. In the 
spring of 1802, the Rev. J. H. Meier, of New Platz was called as 
asH'5;ant. Mr. Romeyn died in 1804, at the age of sixty. His 
wife, Elizabeth Broadhead, died in 1815, at the age of seventy- 
four. Their son, the Rev. John B. Romeyn, was pastor of the 
Cedar Street Church, in New York and their daughter, Catherin, 
married Caleb Beck, of Schenectady. 

It has been said, that in Mr. Romeyn's pastorate the church 
service was in both Dutch and English. In February, 1794, the 
Consistory resolved, that, so long as there were twenty-five sup- 
porting families in the Church who understood Dutch better than 
any other language, the sermon should be in Dutch at one service 
and in English at the other, and that the weekly evening lecture 
should be in a different language from the Sunday evening 
sermon. 

This was caused by the growing popularity of English. The 
majority of the younger portion of the congregation understood 
and spoke English better than they did Dutch. In the Episcopal 
and Presbyterian Churches the service was, of course, in English 
and it was feared that that fact would attract the young people. 
The older members were so intensely Dutch that the English 
sermon did not give great satisfaction so, five months later, the 
resolution adopted by the Consistory was changed, so that the 
sermon should be in English every alternate Sunday at one of the 
two day services and that the Sunday evening sermon should be 
in English. 



First Dutch Reformed Church. 89 

In March, 1798, the young people were again flirting with the 
Episcopal and Presbyterian Churches. This caused the older 
people to conclude to violate their feeling and ears by listening 
more frequently to sermons preached in English. The clerk was 
required to hire an English clerk, at his own expense, to serve on 
the days when the service was in that language. In 1799, wonder 
of wonders, Mr. Yates was authorized to purcliase eight English 
Bibles and half of the service for two successive Sundays was to 
be in English and on the third Sunday, entirely in Dutch. Those 
persons who are acquainted with the tenacity of purpose of the 
descendants of those fine old Dutchmen and women, may guess 
that the third Sunday was anticipated with as great eagerness as 
the newly admitted attorney anticipates his first fee. 

It may be remarked parenthetically, that it is extremely odd 
that, since their grand, and great-grantl parents were so passion- 
ately, almost stubbornly .devoted to the mother-tongue, there is 
not one of their descendants living in Schenectady in 1904 who 
can read the letters and documents, written in the Dutch language 
years ago — and there is many a chest full of them in many an 
attic — or speak the Dutch language of those days. There is a bit 
of subtile humor in the fact, that the only person in Schenectady, 
living in the past decade, who was at all proficient in reading the 
old Dutch, was a Scotchman, the late Alexander Thomson. 

After the death of Mr. Romeyn, the Rev. John H. ^leier 
became the minister of the Church. Mr. Meier was born in 
Pompton, New Jersey, in October, 1774. He was graduated 
from Columbia College in 1795 and studied theology with the 
Rev. Dr. Livingston. In 1798, he was licensed to preach and 
was called to the New Platz Church, New Platz seemingly being 
a training school for Schenectady ministers. In 1802, he was 
called to Schenectady, as Mr. Romeyn's assistant and in 1804, he 
became the minister. His pay was a salary of v$662.50 a year with 
a house, but nothing was mentioned about pasturage for cows 
and a horse, nor of wood. 

Mr. Meier was a young man of agreeable manners, who was 



90 Old Schenectady. 

well liked out of the congreg-ation as well as in it, notwithstanding 
the fact that he was rather reserved. He was notable for his 
veneration and sympathy. His death occurred at the end of his 
second year as pastor, in 1806, at the age of thirty-two. 

For two years after the death of Mr. Meier the Church was 
without a minister, the pulpit being supplied by men from other 
places. In July, 1807, a son of a former minister, the Rev. John 
B. Romeyn, was called, but he did not accept the call with its 
house, firewood and $1,000 a year. 

In 1808, the Rev. Cornelius Liogardus, was called and 
accepted. Mr. Bogardus was born in September, 1780. He, too, 
was one of the Rev. Dr. Livingston's students. He was installed 
as minister of the First Reformed Church, of Schenectady, in 
November. 1808, that being his first parish. He was a man of 
fine presence and, although not the equal of some of his pre- 
decessors as a speaker, he was considered a strong preacher and, 
had he lived, would probably have become noted. He died in 
December, 181 2, at the age of thirty-two. It was in his pastorate 
that the church building was first used for the Fourth of July 
celebration. This was in 1811. In granting the request for the 
use of the building, the Consistory stipulated that there should 
be no instrumental music, nor anything said which would give 
offence to any political party. 

The Rev. Dr. Jacob Van Vechten was the next minister, his 
pastorate beginning in 1815. Up to his coming, there had been no 
long terms as ministers of the Church, but in his case, it was 
different, for his pastorate continued for thirty-four years. Mr. 
Van Vechten was born in Catskill, in September. 1788. He was 
a descendant of the first settler, Tenuis Dirkse Van Vechten, who 
came to the Dutch Colony in America, with his wife, one child 
and two servants, in 1638. In 1648. he owned a farm in Green- 
bush, opposite Albany. 

Dr. Van Vechten's early education was obtained in Catskill 
and later in the Kingston Academy. He prepared for Union 
College with the Rev. Alexander Miller, a former minister of 



First Dutch Reformed Church. Qt 

the Presbyterian Church, in Schonectady. Dr. \au W'chtcn 
entered Union in 1805, and was graduated in 1809. When he 
entered college, he intended to study law and so. soon after being 
graduated, he entered the office of his uncle, Abraham \'an 
Vechten, of Albany. He gave up the law in a few months and 
began to study for the ministry, in the Theological Seminary of 
the Scotch Church, under the Rev. Dr. J. Al. Alason, of New 
York, and later, in New Brunswick Theological Seminary. In 
1814, he was licensed to preach. 

Mt. Van Vechten was married twice — his first wife was 
Miss Catherin Mason, a daughter of his preceptor, and the second 
was. Miss Van Dyck. daughter of Abraham Van Dyck, of 
Coxackie. Mr. Van \^echten was not robust, as a youth, and as 
time went on, his health did not improve. In 1823, he went to 
Europe and was gone a year and returned somewhat improved 
in health. Williams College gave him the degree of D. D., and 
in 1837, he was senior trustee of Union College. In 1849. ^lis lack 
of health caused his resignation. From that time, till his death 
in 1 87 1, he devoted himself to literature. 

In 1792 Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas \'an der Volgen presented 
the Church with several fine, large chandeliers of brass and the 
same year a great innovation was made in an attempt to heat the 
church. The attempt was as great a failure as it was great in 
its novelty. In December of that year two stoves were purchased 
and placed in the church, not on the floor, but on two platforms 
as high as the gallery, their knowledge of thermotics being, not 
only primitive but upside down. They evidently believed that 
heat waves descended. Th.e result was. that while the boys and 
negro slaves in the gallery were hot the congregation down on 
the floor of the church were cold. Finally the stoves were 
lowered to the floor where they gave satisfaction. In 1797. Mr. 
and Mrs. \'an der X'olgen again showed their generosity by 
giving to the Church money for the purchase of an organ. This 
money was left to accumulate till about 1826 when an organ was 
purchased from Henry l{rban. of New York, at a cost of $1,000 



First Dutch Reformed Church. 93 

The duties of the klokhiyer, or sexton, were to ring the bell, 
as the word klokluyer signifies, to keep the interior of the church 
in proper order and to dig graves and fill them in after the burial 
ceremony. The dual office of "voorlezer" and "voorsanger" 
was united in the person of the clerk. The duties of this person 
were fixed and defined by the consistory. Generally speaking, he 
opened the service by reading the commandments, a chapter from 
the Bible and a hymn or psalm, in >he morning, and in the after- 
noon substituting the creed for the commandments, otherwise 
the same form was carried out. In addition, this voor-person 
had "the right and emoluments of burying the dead of the con- 
gregation." This could not have been any very great source of 
Tncome for those old Dutchmen were slow-livers and long-livers 
and the habit acquired then obtains to-day. 

The First Reformed Church has ever been the exponent of 
good music in Schenectady. In 1794 the Consistory adopted a 
resolution which would have the effect of improving the smgmg 
and increasing the number of singers. This was to be accom- 
plished bv Cornelius DeGraaf, the chorister, who should urge 
parents to send their children to him for instruction, at the rate 
of thirtv-five cents a month to which would be added an equal 
sum bv'the Consistorv. Then the Consistory then tacked on to 
the resolution a "rider" in which was all the meat of the purpose of 
the resolution. It was that Mr. DeGraaf should try to keep better 
time and that he should "soften his voice as much as possible. 
There is a tradition that when Mr. DeGraaf sat on his back 
stoop expanding the atmosphere by "singing psalms to beguile 
the evening hours, his voice could be clearly heard two nnles up 
the river in a straight line." When it is remembered that this 
volume of sound progressed up the river against a four mile 
current, the value of such a voice in the person of a twentieth- 
centurv campaign "orator" nnist be appreciated and the sufferings 
of his friends and neighl)ors may be guessed at. 

In 1805. the church, which st.H.d in the mid<llc- ot the junc- 
tion of Union and Church streets, was in need of repair and too, 



94 Old Schenectady. 

the fact that it was in the street was considered to be an evidence 
of lack of progress. Nothing definite was done till 1810 when 
the Consistory appointed a committee to investigate the feasibility 
of repairing the church and another committee to draw plans for 
a new church. The new church building was decided upon, not 
however, without opposition and heart luu-nings on the parts of 
those who clung to the old church through sentiment and affec- 
tion, they having taken part in the sacrifices and struggles for 
its erection. There was also opposition from those who felt that 
the new building should be located further east, as the city had 
grown in that direction. The site finally settled upon was what 
was known as the old parsonage lot and is the site of the present 
handsome church building. 

Before the site had been settled upon the Great Consistory 
had determined that a satisfactory manner for deciding whether 
the old church should be repaired, or a new one built would be, 
that if subscriptions for $4,000 were obtained within four weeks 
from the date of the meeting of the Great Consistory, a new 
church should be built : if that sum was not sul)scribed, then the 
old church should be repaired. This resulted in the subscription 
of $3,379.50 in cash and 243 days of work. 

The land upon which the first church was built by Alexander 
Lindsey Glen, in the little square at the end of Church street, on 
State street, and the site of the second church building, at 
the junction of Church and Union streets, still belonged to the 
Church. It was decided to sell these sites to the city, to be dedi- 
cated to the use of the public forever, to help the building opera- 
tions. The price paid, was 200 acres of land worth at least $10 
an acre. On December 3, 1812, the contracts for the new church 
building was signed. The contract for the mason work and 
material was let to David Hearsey and Thomas McCully, for 
$4,570; the contract for carpenter work and finishing was let to 
Joseph Horsfall and Garret Benson for $5,800. 

The site of the new church was on property which had been 
used b\- the Church and was known as the parsonage lot. at the 



First Dutch Reformed Chnreh. 95 

north-east corner of Union and Cliurch streets, where the present 
really beautiful and dig-nified church stands. The g-round area 
was 57 by 96 feet. It was a plain building built of brick with 
a tower and cupola on the Union street front. The main entrance 
was in the tower and there were two other doors, one on either 
side of the tower directly opposite the ends of the aisles. The 
bell of the old church hung in the belfry. At this period of the 
Church's history, English customs were rapidly supplanting the 
good old Dutch customs, which were rather conservative ; so. 
instead of separating the sexes, as was the Dutch custom, the 
seats were arranged without regard to sex. The floor of the 
church was divided by three aisles ; one, broad and in the middle, 
with pews on either side, and two narrower side aisles, separating 
the pews from family "slips" which were against the side walls 
and "fenced" in, as was the old custom. The gallery was over 
the main entrance. In it were the choir and organ, seats for 
casual worshipers and for negroes. The i)uliMt was against the 
wall opposite the gallery. On Xovember 20, 1814, the last service 
was held in the old building. 

This must have been a solemn and, for the older members of 
the congregation, a sad event. The l)uilding they were about to 
al)andon was the link connecting the ancient with the beginning 
of the modern. It was built in 1734 and worshipped in by many 
persons who were children, or who were born when the original 
fifteen settlers began the town, in 1662. The church about to be 
given u]), had been the house of worshi]) in the stirring times of the 
French and Indian War, and the funerals of those who were 
killed in the lieukendaal fight were held in it. Then came the 
terrible times of the Revolution, when many a self-.sacrificing 
patriot was carried on the shoulders of his neighbors to his grave, 
from this old church. lUit, in 1812, the United States of America 
was progressing by lea])s and leaps. Tlie young State rather 
scorned the ancient Colon\ . The Nation felt itself to be verv 
-Strong and big and it was about to ])rove that this feeling was an 
actual condition b\- entering for the second time into a war witli 



96 



Old Schenectady. 



i^^- 



its grand old parent, Great Britain. So, while the oldsters were 

weeping because the "king is dead" the youngsters were 

enthusiastically shouting, "long live the king." 

The old church of 1734 was sold to Henry Yates and Charles 

Kane for — a mess of pottage — $442.50. 

The destruction of the church building of 1814, in 1861, has 

been described under the caption of Calamities. After this fire, 

a portion of the 
j congregation ad- 

I I vocated rebuild- 

ing and enlarging 
upon the o 1 d 
walls left stand- 
ing, but they 
were compara- 
tively few. The 
m embers who 
looked toward the 
future advocated 
the erection of an 
entirely new 
building. It is 
only necessary to 
look at the beauty 
and dignity of the 
p resent church 
building to ap- 
p r e c i a t e how 
great would have 

The Fint Dutch Reformed Cluuch. , O 1 

been bchenec- 
tady's loss, had the advocates of rebuilding upon the old walls 
carried the day. The First Dutch Reformed Church of Schenec- 
tady is among the finest specimens of perfect, dignified ecclesi- 
astical architecture in the United States. No individual has done 
more for Schenectady than its architect, Edward Tuckerman 




first Dutch Reformed Church. 97 

Potter. It is a church buildings that will be appropriate, dignified 
and beautiful for all time. Although there is nothing ancient 
about this building, except the Churcli organization — which came 
into existence 224 years ago — a description of it will be given, 
which is taken from one published at the time the building was 
completed. 

The church and consistory room form two sides of a square, 
with the opening of the angle opposite the corner of Union and 
Church streets, the entrance to the consistory room being from 
Church street and that to the church, from Union street. In the 
angle, stands the tower, topped by a lofty spire which, with the 
tower, is 170 feet high. The outside measurements, including the 
buttresses, on the ground are: 113 feet north and south by 116 
feet east and west. 

It is built of a purplish-gray stone with trimmings, chiefly 
of Connecticut brown stone and other varieties, in composition 
and color. The tracery of the large rose window over the main 
entrance is of Caen stone. At either side of the main entrance, 
or Congregation's door, are polished shafts of red granite resting 
upon bases, and with capitals of Nova Scotia stone. The capi- 
tals are carved in bold relief with representations of the produc- 
tions of the soil of the Mohawk valley. Over the door is carved 
the text from the Bible: "1 have brought in the first fruits of the 
land, which thou, O Lord, hast given me." 

In accord with a very old Dutch custom one of the side en- 
trances is call the Bride's door. Over this door is a small trip- 
let window with small shafts of ])olished marble, the capitals of 
which are carved to represent orange blossoms. Over the door 
is the legend : "His banner over me was Love." The other minor 
entrance, on the eastern side, is called "Forefather's door" and the 
text carved over it is : "The Lord our Cod be with us as He was 
with our fathers. 

The interior dimensions are: The church proper, 60 by 100 
feet; consistory room 30 by 50 feet; tower, 16 by t6 feet. The 
church and consistory room have open-timbered roofs. The 



98 Old Schenectady. 

organ and choir are behind the pulpit. Opposite the pulpit, over 
the main entrance, is a small gallery, only used when the occasion 
attracts more persons than can be seated in the body of the church. 

The consistory room opens into the church at the end near 
the pulpit and choir. A massive screen of carved black-walnut 
and plate glass separates the church from the room. This screen 
is 30 feet wide and 40 feet high. The pulpit is made of veined 
green, variegated yellow and mottled dark red marbles, that were 
quarried on the Jura Alps, in France, and are encased in black 
walnut. The carvings on the pulpit are ornate ; the text is "We 
preach Christ crucified." The rose window at the south, has the 
arms of the Dutch Reformed Church and two windows in the 
consistory room have the arms of the Clute and Cuyler families. 
The four stained windows of the tower have representations of 
the four previous church buildings. The sill of the gate, in front 
of the "Bride's door" is the threshold of the old church of 1734. 
There are many more fine carvings and texts than have been 
mentioned. 

There are few, if any, churches in New York, which 
possessed in so early a day so much land as did the First Dutch 
Reformed Church of Schenectady. 1740 it owned twelve square 
miles of land. This property, if still in the possession of the 
Church, would be of great value, but it is not. Much of it was 
sold for the running expenses of the Church and some of it was 
given to the friends and relatives of influential members of the 
congreeation, just as the same thing would be done in the 
twentieth century. 

Besides the property at State and Water streets, where the 
original church buildinc: stood and that at the junction of I"''nion 
and Church streets, where the third church stood, the Church 
owned bv bcnuest from Van X'^alsen, his valuable mill property 
fronting on State street and bounded on the south bv Mill lane, 
about six acres in all. W\ of these nmnerties were in the villaere. 

Out of the village there was the "Poor Pasture" lying between 
the line of Front street and the river in the neighborhood, probably, 



First Dutch Reformed Church. 99 

t)f the canal and New York Central Railroad. The east and west 
boundaries given mean nothing- to the present generation, so the 
general location is all that can be given. The boundaries were : 
"the Fonda place on the west and College creek on the east, which 
in those days was called "Hansen kil." This property included 
thirty-six acres. In 1806 the Church bought sixteen acres to the 
east of the "Poor Pasture" for $1,750, from Harmanus Ya.u 
Slyck. In 1863 the fifty-two acres were sold for $11,000. The 
"Poor Pasture" was given to the Church by Hans Janse Eenkluys, 
a soldier in the employ of the Dutch West India Company. He 
was in Schenectady in 1668 and died there in 1683. In 1714 the 
Church obtained possession of what was known as the Sixth Flat, 
seven miles from the village on the north bank of the Mohawk, 
east of the Verfkil. or Paint creek, not far from Hoffman's Ferry. 
The property included fourteen acres of the flats and twenty 
acres of woodland just back of it. In the same year the Church 
oluained possession of a piece of woodland on what is now' the 
road to the Aqueduct, at a point opposite tfie lower bridge. In 
1638 the Church obtained by patent 2,421 acres in Niskayuna 
which was increased in 1754 by 1,200, making in all 3,621 acres. 




Chapter VI, 
Churches. 



s 






ST. GEORGE'S El'lSCOPAL CHURCH. 
()()\- after tlio Colony »i -Vew Amsterdam became 
t\K- Colom- ol -New York, it. 1664, the necessity for 
tlie Estal.iislied Cliurcli, or more properly a church 
„t the \nghcan Communio.i of the Catholic Church, 
i„ Schenectady, began to be felt for, with the Br.t.sh 
occupation of this Colony, many English families 
came here from the New England Colonies, and many 
discliarged soldiers became settlers. There were also 
British garrisons near, the soldiers of which married 
into Dutch families of the valley. 
l.-„r many years there were occasional English chaplains 
here, but not even a mission church. After the close of the 
French and Indian war, in 1-54. .l-e were few soUhers s ta . ned 
near Schenectady, and the few settlers, who were Churchmen, 
Tre Ob iged to Uiild a church for themselves. The foundations 
Tere laid m .759, but the building was delayed for years, because 
of the small number of persons who had to bear the expense. In 
,765 fiftv-f^ve persons in Schenectady signed a petition asking 
or a mis'sion to help them to complete the work which had been 
started In 1771, there were eighty a.lult church members n 
Schn ctady Jd this number was somewhat increasd in the 
!•!" hv .he Indian traders who came here for liead„uarters, or 
returned from the Great Lakes to their homes. 

Samuel Full..., a Yankee from Needham, Massachusetts, who 
..as master of the King's artificers, came here to have charge o 
the wood work, and he eventually became the builder c,f 1 c 
cluirch As late as ,762. three years after the laying of the 



102 Old Schenectady. 

foundations, Fuller was obliged to return to Needham to secure 
several carpenters as there was, apparently, no one in this old 
Dutch village who could do the work. Besides their wages, these 
men were allowed pay for the fourteen days required in coming 
here and returning to their homes. 

Sir William Johnson was a good friend of the struggling 
parish and subscribed liberally from his private purse, and on one 
occasion he raised from his friends and the Governors of New 
Jersey and Pennsylvania, the then very considerable sum of $357, 
toward the building fund. It was chiefly through his efforts that 
a charter for the church was obtained from the Governor of the 
Colony, in 1766. Sir William frequently attended service in St. 
George's and tradition says that his pew, which was on the south 
side, was covered by a canopy. 

There are two odd legends connected with the earliest days 
of the church which show, in a striking manner, that inaccuracies 
were indulged in in those far ofif days as freely as they are now. 

It seems that the Presbyterians having no church of their 
own and, like the Episcopalians, not enough money among them- 
selves to build one, united with the latter in subscribing money 
for the erection of St. George's, the understanding being, that 
both denominations should worship in the church on dififerent 
occasions. There were two doors in those days, one on the west 
and the other on the south side of the church. It was agreed that 
the Episcopalians should use the west door and the Presbyterians 
the south door. John Brown, to whose memory there is a tablet 
in the wall of the present church and who was an earnest worker 
for the parish, went to New York secretly and got the Bishop 
to consecrate the church without the knowledge of the Presby- 
terians. Of course they were outraged that such an act should 
be done when they had subscribed liberally, in proportion to 
their means. But the fact of the matter is, nothing of the kind 
happened, for there was no Episcopal Bishop in the Colonies till 
thirty years after the supposed consecration, and furthermore, St. 
George's Church was not consecrated by anyone till 1859, when 
it was done by Bishop Potter. 



St. George's Bpiscupal Church. 103 

The other legend is to the cttect, that when the south, or 
Presbyterian door was wahed up, the plaster w^ould not stick and 
the Presbyterians accounted for this by saying: "It was because 
the Lord had put a curse upon it." 

As nearly as can be ascertained, the Rev. Thomas Barclay, 
an Episcopal missionary in Albany, was the first minister to con- 
duct the Episcopal service in Schenectady, but this was in 1710, 
many years before the church was thought of. 

In 1748 a youth of twenty-one, John W. Brown, came to 
Schenectady from London, and was afterward, to the end of his 
days known as the "Father of the Parish" because of his life- 
long work for the parish, which only ended with his death at the 
age of eighty-seven. There is a tradition that the name, St. 
George, was given to the church by him. The first baptism 
according to the ritual of the Episcopal Church, occurred in 1754, 
when Mr. Brown's little daughter was baptized, the sacrament 
being administered by the Rev. John Ogilvie, rector of St. Peter's 
in Albany, who came to Schenectady for such occasions and to 
conduct the service, several times a year. 

The first resident rector of St. George's Church was probably 
William Andrews, who was a religious teacher to the ]\Iohawk 
Indians. j\Ir. Andrews finally returned to his home in London so 
that he could be ordained by the Bishop of London, whose See 
included this part of the Colonies, and then he was appointed 
rector of St. George's. This wvis in 1770. The Rev. William 
Andrews was a hard worker, not only in parish work but in 
school work as well. In 177 1 he established a grammar school. 
This school and the hard parish work so broke Mr. Andrew's 
health that he was obliged to resign in 1773, when he went to 
\^irginia. This was the first school of importance in Schenectady. 
Some idea of the hardihood of the early settlers and of the 
toil and hardships they bore, as a matter of course, may be had 
when it is known that there was considerable difficulty in paying 
the rector's salary and that the reason given was, "So many of the 
parishioners are Indian traders who go to the Great Lakes and 



104 



Old Schenectady. 



sometimes do not return for a year." The journey by canoe with 
long, tedious carries was more of an undertaking and more 
dangerous than would be a journey to-day to Lake Nyanza in the 
heart of Africa. These men traded for furs with the Indians and 
hunted and trapped as well. When they had obtained as many 
pelts as could be brought back, they returned to their homes and 
the pelts were mostly disposed of to the Sanders, of New York, 
Albany and Scotia, who did a business of a million or more yearly. 

When the war 
with the Mother 
Country broke 
out the Rev. John 
Doty, a graduate 
of Columbia Col- 
lege (then called 
King's College) 
was rector of St. 
George's Church. 
This war made 
the position of the 
Episcopal clergy 
most trying. They 
were supported, 
in part if not en- 
tirely, from the 
( )ld country and 
they felt that an 
ecclesiastical obli- 
gation made the prayers for the King and Royal family a moral 
necessity. This caused suspicion on the part of the Colonists who, 
by the conditions were made even more suspicious than they were 
naturally,, and so Mr. Doty, with many other rectors, was im- 
prisoned for a while. When he was released he went to Canada, 
and for the remainder of the Revolutionary War there was no 
service in the church. 




St. George's Episcopal Church. 105 

When peace w<ls declared, the church edifice was in a bad 
condition and the parishioners were scattered, or had been killed 
ni battle. Then it was that John JJrown, "the father of the parish," 
and Charles Aiartin made liberal subscriptions and secured other 
subscriptions from. Churchmen for its renovation. About 1790 
the parish was admitted to the Convention of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church. 

In 1798, St. George's parish began a new life which was 
more or less prosperous and has contmued so from that year to 
the present. That same year the Rev. Robert G. Wetmore became 
joint rector of Christ Church, in Duanesburg and of St. George's 
m this city. At this time the church was only fifty-six by thirty- 
six feet with three windows on each side, the south door of the 
Presbyterians' being walled up. There was a small steeple of 
wood in the middle of the front and the pulpit, against the east 
wall, was reached by a long flight of steps. Air. Wetmore 
resigned in 1801 and for several years thereafter St. George's 
Church was without a rector. 

There were two dissenters who became identified with the 
Church in this city, especially with St. George's : David Hearsay, 
a Congregationalist from New England, and the Rev. Cyrus 
Stebbins, a Methodist minister of Albany, who was ordained by 
Bishop Moore. Mr. Stebbins was rector of St. George's Church 
from 1806 to 1819. 

From 1 82 1 to 1836 the Rev. A. P. Proal was rector and it 
was in his rectorship that the most notable improvements were 
made, up to that time. The Wendell liouse was purchased for the 
rectory. This property was just north of the church and adjoin- 
ing it and the property is still the site of the rectory. More pews 
were added and side galleries were put up to accommodate the 
growing congregation. In 1838, when the Rev. Dr. Smede was 
rector, the two transei)ts were added ; a great pulpit, way up in 
the air, was put in with a cellar-like hole under it, into which 
the rector disappeared when the time came to change from sur- 
plice to l)lack rol)e, just before the .sermon. In our day the 



io6 Old Schenectady. 

popping down and then up would be the cause of considerable 
levity with its suggestiveness of a human jack-in-the-box, but 
the early settlers were so much given to toil and rest, with very 
much more of the toil than rest, that they saw little of the humor- 
ous side of life, or if they saw it, they failed to recognize it. The 
Peek house, immediately adjoining the church yard on the south, 
was purchased at this time, and was used as a house for the sex- 
ton and for the Sunday school. This property is still owned by 
the Church. 

The other rectors were: The Rev. William H. Walter, from 
1839 to '42 ; the Rev. Dr. John Williams, from 1842 to '48. Dr. 
Williams later became the beloved Bishop of Connecticut ; and in 
1848 the Rev. Dr. William Payne became its rector. 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

After the "Piskerbals," as the Episcopalians were called in 
old days and are still called in some parts of New England, had 
closed the south, or Presbyterian door of St. George's Church, the 
Presbyterians worshiped in rented quarters. It was not till 1770 
that a minister was regularly settled here, although it is probable 
that missionaries from Albany officiated occasionally. As has 
been mentioned elsewhere, they worshiped in St. George's Church 
for some time. 

It is most unfortunate for us of to-day, that there is no record, 
nor even tradition, where the site of the first church was. The 
church, wherever it was, was built by John Hall and Samuel 
Fuller, at an expense to the congregation, including the lot, of 
$1,800. The frame was "raised" on June 1 and 2, 1770, and the 
building finished in 1771. There were forty-three pews and a 
gallery. The first settled minister was the Rev. Alexander Miller, 
who was a graduate of Princeton in the class of 1764, and studied 
theology under the Rev. Dr. Rodgers, of New York. Mr. Miller 
received in 1767 his license to preach, was ordained in 1770 and 
was immediately settled over the congregation. He had also, 



Presbyterian Church. 107 

outlying congregations at Currie's — or Cory's — Bush, now 
Princeton, and at Remsen's Bush. At this time, WiUiani White 
was deacon and James Schuyler, James Wilson, and Andrew 
McFarlan were elders. In the ahsence of Mr. Miller, in 1771, the 
Rev. Eliphalet Ball, of Bedford, New York, preached as supply. 
Mr. Ball became so greatly pleased with the country about 
Schenectady, that he and a portion of his congregation settled in 
Ballston, in 1788, and Ballston was so called in honor of Mr. Ball. 

The Rev. Alexander Miller left Schenectady in 1781. He 
was succeeded by the Rev. John Young, who was ordained, about 
a year later, on June 14, 1788, and included Currie's Bush in his 
ministerial duties. The church membership was small and the 
members not burdened with money ; so when Mr. Miller severed 
his connection with it, there was a considerable sum still due him 
on his salary. 

In 1790, the Rev. Mr. Young requested that his resignation 
be accepted — ^the reason given, being that his health was 
impaired and that his salary was unpaid for some time. This was 
on November 10. The congregation was somewhat disrupted 
about this time by the contention of two factions in the Church. 
The evangelical idea, which was gaining strength in the Church, 
was bitterly oi)posed by those who favored formalism. This con- 
tention, taken together with Mr. Young's request, resulted in his 
dismissal, on December 9, 1790. 

From 1 79 1 to 1795, the pulpit was supplied, occasionally, by 
ten or twelve dififerent ministers. When the Rev. J. B. Smith 
was elected president of L^nion College, he took a hand in the 
afifairs of the struggling church, and. meta])liorically, put it on 
its feet for the time being. On Sei)tember 13, 1796, the Rev. 
Robert Smith, of Pennsylvania, was called to the pastorate and 
was installed. Unfortunately for the Church, Mr. Smith's health 
broke down and in t8oi, he went to Savannah hoping to recover 
his strength ; 1)ut he died not long after his arrival. Mr. Smith 
was a worker and a man who was possessed of qualities which 
jiarticularly fitted him for his chosen calling and for the pastorate 



io8 Old Schenectady. 

of this Church. Under his pastorate, the membership was 
increased from thirty-seven to eighty-eight. The annual income 
of the Church at this time was $700. 

The loss of Mr. Smith's influence and wise management gave 
occasion for the restless ones of the congregation to again 
indulge in that Scotchman's delight — "a wee bit daunder." The 
Rev. William Clarkson was installed in March, 1802, by the 
Presbytery, upon petition of seventy-six members of the congre- 
gation, which number included three elders ; but this was opposed 
by a minority petition, signed by twenty members, including two 
elders. The minority accused Mr. Clarkson of really shocking 
crimes — the most serious being that "he read his sermons." It 
mattered not to the old-time Presbyterian, especially if he were 
Scotch, if the minister wrote out and learned by heart, his sermon, 
so long as he spoke it without notes or manuscript. The reading 
of a sermon was a sin they could not tolerate. It seems that the 
Presbytery did not agree with the minority, and Mr. Clarkson was 
retained. This resulted in the withdrawal of twenty-four families 
from the congregation and the acquisition of a number of new 
members. An election of elders increased the quarrel and, finally, 
politics had so far taken possession of the congregation to the 
exclusion of Christianity, that Mr. Clarkson resigned in Septem- 
ber, 1803. 

In December of the same year, the son of Rev. Dr. Romeyn, 
of the old First Dutch Reformed Church, the Rev. J. B. Romeyn, 
became pastor at a salary of $625, but politics still held posses- 
sion of the members and he left in November, 1804. This strife 
was not only disrupting the congregation, but was also minimiz- 
ing the finances — the rent, received for pews, being but $35. 
Nathaniel Todd tried his luck, in December, 1805, and was dis- 
missed, by the Presbytery, in November of the same year, because 
the Church could not support a minister. 

An Irishman named John Joyce, who was a lay preacher in 
the Methodist faith, so pleased the congregation, or, at least, a 
considerable portion of it, that the Presbytery was asked to appoint 



Presbyterian Church. log 

him minister. It refused and requested the resignation of the 
session and the election of a new one, in the hope of hettering the 
conditions. In 1809, the foundations for a new church were laid, 
which would make it appear that, while there was money for a 
church, there was none for a minister. While the new church 
was being built — on the site of the chapel which had been taken 
down — the congregation, seemingly, continued the strife on week 
days and worshiped in the College Chapel on Sundays. Dr. Eli- 
phalet Xott had been president of Union College for five years at 
this time, and he did much to smooth matters for the disrupted 
congregation. It is probable that the somewhat odd arrangement 
of the gallery of this new church was a sort of acknowledgement 
of that fact. This gallery was in the form of a horseshoe and, 
at the ends, above and near the pulpit-platform, were inclines, 
down which the students of the graduating-class walked to 
receive their diplomas from the hands of the president, when they 
ascended to the gallery on the other side, up the other incline. 
This proceeding must have been a source of delight to the "kid" 
portion of the audience at Commencement, if any of them were 
admitted in those days, on account of its circus-like appearance. 

For the succeeding six years, there was an absence of strife. 
In this period, the Rev. Alexander Montieth was minister. His 
pastorate began on August 29, 1809, and continued till his death, 
on January 29, 1815. His salary was raised from $700 to $1,000, 
and sixty-two new communicants were added. 

The next minister was the Rev. Hooper Cummings, "whose 
eloquence," to quote a previous writer, "covered not a few of his 
own sins and other mens' sermons." In his brief pastorate, lasting 
from November. 1815. to February, 1817, sixty-five communicants 
were added. For three years, the Church was without a minister 
and a few persons withdrew from membership. The preaching 
was done by President Xott and Dr. McAuley of the College, 
while the Church was without a settled minister. 

From T820 to 1826 the Rev. Walter Montieth was minister. 
It was in his pastorate that a curious old custom, founded upon 



no Old Schenectady. 

"holier-then-thou" bigotry, was discontinued. This was the 
communion "token." It was made of pewter or lead, about an 
inch square, inscribed, on one side, with the name of the church 
and on the other, with the numerals of texts. Without one of 
these "tokens" no repentant sinner, who wished to confess his 
sins and obtain spiritual strength for a more determined fight 
against sin. could partake of the sacrament. In March, 1B21, the 
very straight and painfully narrow path, only wide enough for a 
Presbyterian, was widened so that Christians could walk, side 
by side, to the communion table. 

Another broadening of constricted ideas took place at this 
time in the building — the Session House. There was, however, 
strong opposition by such members of the congregation as were 
still struggling singly up the narrow path to Paradise ; for they 
regarded Sunday schools as something to be shunned and prayer- 
meetings, with suspicion. In the twentieth century it hardly 
seems credible that, less than one hundred years ago, there were 
Presbyterians built upon such slender lines. 

From 1826 to 1832, the Rev. Drs. Erskine and William Jones 
were the minister and "stated supply," respectively. On Decem- 
ber 6, 1832 the Church began a new life; a life so broad and 
benevolent, that the old-time strife was impossible to longer con- 
tinue ; for it was on that date that the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Trum- 
bull Backus was ordained and installed the church's minister. He 
continued, as such, till 1873. During these forty-one years the 
temporal and spiritual wealth of the Church constantly grew and 
it has continued to do so to the present time. While Dr. Backus 
was minister, one thousand communicants were added and 
$160,000 were distributed. In 1834, the church building was 
enlarged; in 1843, the chapel was built; in 1857, the session-room 
was added ; and, in 1859, the church building was again enlarged. 
Dr. Backus was succeeded, in 1873, by the Rev. Dr. Timothy G. 
Darling. 



Methodist Church. 



^lETHODIST CHURCH. 



The origin of the Methodist Church, in Schenectady, was 
in 1767. when Captain Thomas Webb went to Schenectady from 
Albany. This Captain Webb was an officer in the British Army, 
who had been Hcensed to preach by John Wesley, as a local 
preacher. He arrived in New York on orders from his superiors 
and was assigned to military duty in Albany. As nearly as can 
be ascertained, he was the first person, of the Methodist faith, to 
visit Schenectady. 

With the religious energy of his faith, be began to preach 
and to teach the scriptures, in a building used for making flour, 
on the east side of Church street, not far from Union street, and 
also, in the home of Giles Van Vorst, on Union street. The 
people were as curious, in those days, as they are now, when any- 
tliing unusual is to be seen or heard, especially in religious 
matters, and it. surely, was an unusual sight to see a British officer, 
preaching in uniform, wearing his side-arms, or his sword, lying 
on the table in front of him. As the late Judge John Sanders 
expressed it, with great force and elegance : "The people went to 
hear him, out of curiosity ; but were not unfrequently wounded 
by the sword of the Spirit, which he wielded with great power." 
Among the persons who were first attracted, then convicted of 
sin. and, finally, converted to the doctrines of the Methodist 
Church, were Giles Brower, Nicholas Van Patten, Rachel Bar- 
hydt and Mrs. Giles Van Vorst, in whose home he preached. 

Three years after the advent of Captain Thomas Webb, in 
1770. the great George Whitfield — great, out of Methodism, as 
well as in it — ^preached in Schenectady, as the second pastor of 
the small but growing Church. This was on the occasion of his 
last tour of America, and the people crowded the place of worship, 
without regard to denomination or creed. Benjamin Akin, a 
local preacher of the Methodist Church, a resident of Schenectady, 
was asked by some persons, who had heard him, to preach to 
them. In January, 1807, he began his preaching in the home of 



112 Old Schenectady. 

Richard Clute. on Green street. His manner was so earnest and 
convincing, that, in the first year, the fourteen or fifteen persons 
became converted to Methodism. 

The Rev. Andrew McKean, pastor in charge of the Albany 
circuit, went to Schenectady and organized the Methodists into 
a society and estabHshed the first Methodist Church in Schenec- 
tady, in April, 1807. At the conference of May 2, of that same 
year, the Schenectady circuit was organized and Samuel Howe 
was appointed the preacher. This circuit included, besides the 
city, portions of the neighboring country. Mr. Howe preached 
in Schenectady once in four weeks, in the home of Richard Clute, 
at first, and later, in a house on Liberty street. 

Mr. Howe was succeeded by Seth Crowell in the spring of 
1808. Service was held in a building, owned by Dorsey Joyce 
and let, by him, for that purpose. In 1809, a rough building was 
put up on the corner of Liberty and Canal streets (where the 
canal crosses Liberty street) without walls or anything more 
nearly resembling pews than boards resting upon blocks of wood. 
The structure was, several years later, finished and made into a 
creditable church. This church was used till 1835, when the 
property upon which it stood was taken for the Erie canal. The 
building was moved over to Union street, upon which it fronted ; 
but again progress, this time represented by the Saratoga Rail- 
road, needed the property upon which the church stood. At this 
time, the Rev. James B. Houghtaling was the pastor and the 
membership was one hundred and ninety-five. The lot and old 
building were sold and a better church-building was erected on 
Liberty street. It was dedicated in 1836, while the Rev. Truman 
Seymour was pastor. 

The A^ethodist was the fourth of the old Schenectady churches. 

BAPTIST CHURCH. 
The First Baptist Church, which is fast approaching its 
centennial, was founded in 1822 and is the fifth church in age in 
Schenectady. It membership at the time numbered thirty-six 



Baptist Church. i i ,^ 

persons, man\- of them hcin.i^ former nicnibers of the old Clifton 
Park Church, whose older, Abijah Peck, was the prime mover in 
the founding of the First Cluu-ch of Schenectady. 

A few months later, in 1823, the pastor of the Dutch 
Reformed Church of Princeton, the Rev. N. W. Whiting, was con- 
vinced that immersion was the only proper way to baptize, so he 
gave up his ministerial duties in the Dutch Church and joined 
the Baptists. He was baptized according to the faith and was 
ordained as the first ])astor. Later in the year, the Shaftsbury 
P)aptist Association, numbering forty-five numbers, joined the 
First Church. 

The second pastor was the Rev. John Cooper, from 1825 to 
1827, then there was a break of three years in which the Church 
was without a pastor. This congregation had a hard contest with 
financial adversit}-, not as individuals nor collectively, but as a 
church organization. The membership numbered but eighty-one 
and that they held together and kept the organization alive at 
this time and later, through an even more distressing period, 
shows the courageous spirit of the members most strikingly. In 
1830 the Rev. Richmond Taggart was pastor and in 1833 
he was succeeded bv the Rev. Abram D. (jillette. In the 
three years of bis i)astorate the Church was greatly strengthened 
in numbers and financially, one hundred persons being baptized 
by him. In 1834 the Church was without a pastor and in 1835 
the Rev. J. M. Graves officiated. 

In 1837, in the pastorate of the Rev. I 'Inlander C. C.illctte, 
forty-two persons were bajitized and the first church building was 
erected. Mr. Gillette was succeeded by the Rev. Gowant Sawyer, 
who officiated in 1839 and '40. His brief pastorate was a success- 
ful one, for the membership was increased to three hundred. In 
1840 an important event took ])lace by the withdrawal of twenty- 
eight members wlio <,rganized the Scotia Baptist Church. From 
1842 to '45 ninety-three i)ersons joined the Church under the 
pastorate of the Rev. Laroy Church. In i845-'4<'). the pastor 
was the Rev. William Arthur, In 1847 began a decade of 



114 Old Schenectady. 

adversity and depression which might have ended disastrously 
had another than the late Rev. Horace G. Day been at the head of 
the affairs spiritual and temporal. 

Horace G. Day; the man of small stature and great courage 
(which was displayed when he spoke fearlessly and with 
vehemence against the curse of slavery, on the street corners and 
in halls, time after time, regardless that his life had been 
threatened and that he had been forced to flee for his life from 
the stones thrown by those who disapproved) the man of small 
stature and great spirit, so broad that it opened his great heart 
to all variations of Christians, Protestant and Catholic, and to 
the Hebrews, and won the respect and affection of Protestant, 
Catholic and Jew, so that in his old age members of the three 
great religious bodies considered it a privilege to open their 
purses to keep him from the poverty which he deliberately brought 
upon himself by giving away all that he possessed to the poor. 

Mr. Day was born in Hudson, New York, on September 13, 
1819. His family, however, originated in Hartford, Connecticut. 
After his early school days w^ere over, his first employment was as 
a drug clerk, but his love of books and of mental cultivation 
caused him to continue his education in the Hudson Academy 
from which he was graduated as valedictorian of his class. His 
first experience as a preacher was in 1846 in the Ballston Baptist 
Church, during the absence of its elder. Xorman Fox. During 
and immediately after his student days, his eloquence as a public 
speaker was well known in the Hudson and Mohawk valleys and 
his preaching at Ballston added to his fame. In 1847 he was 
called to the First Baptist Church of Schenectady and continued 
in that capacity for fifty years, his retirement from the pastorate 
taking place in 1897. Thus, his first was his only pastorate. Mr. 
Day. in his eighty-sixth year, bore a striking resemblance to the 
late "Oom" Paul Kruger, a resemblance which he himself, recog- 
nized. During his fifty years as ])ast<n- of (Mie church, he preached 
7,800 sermons, united 652 cou])Ies in marriage, bapti/ed 625 per- 
sons and officiated at 765 finiernls. 



Baptist Church. i i 5 

Mr. Day, althoug-h very feeble physically up, to the time of 
his death, in October, 1904. as the result of his half century of 
hard work, was contented and ha])i)y. The only blot upon the 
fair reputation of the First lUiptist Church is the fact, that instead 
of paying Mr. Day a small salary as pastor emeritus, sufficient for 
his simple needs, he had been supported for several years by 
jniblic subscriptions. Perhaps the most touching thing in con- 
nection with Mr. Day, as showing the de])th of the feeling and 
admiration for him. is the fact, thai on every occasion when the 
press of v^chenectadv announced that a collection would be taken 
u]) for him, among the largest and earliest contributions were 
those from gamblers and saloon keepers of Schenectady. 




^^■i^a 




Chapter VII. 
Free Masonry. 




ST. GEORGE'S LODGE. 

T MAY not be denied that, while there are many 
Masonic Lodges in the State of New York, which 
are the peers of St. George's No. 6, K. and A. AL, 
of Schenectady, there are very few which can boast 
of greater age and not one is more honored by the 
Fraternity at large, and it would seem from studying 
its past and present that it inherited from the man 
who was the chief worker for its organization much 
" of his loyalty and patriotism. 
Colonel Christopher Yates, the founder of St. George's 
Lodge No. 6 F. and A. M., was great grandson of Joseph Yates, 
of Albany, the first American ancestor of the Yates family. He 
was a captain in the British-Colonial army under Sir William 
Johnson and a colonel in Washington's army in the Revolution. 
He was one of the liberally educated men of his day and was 
regarded as a patriot of the highest order. He was born in 1737 ; 
was married to Janetje Bradt, daughter of i^^Vndries liradt, in 
1761 and died in 1785, honored and respected by all with whom 
he came in contact. 

Colonel Yates was a civil engineer and his regiment, called 
"fatigue men," were the engineers who made the ways and built 
the l)ridges and fortifications for the army, it was this man, 
with his high ideas of citizenship and his splendid patriotism, 
who was the prime mover in the organization of St. George's 
Lodge. 

Application was made to tiiat hot-headed Tory, Sir John 
Johnson, the Provincial Grand Master, and the son of old Sir 



ii8 Old Schenectady. 

William Johnson. The dispensation was granted on June 21, 
1774. This having expired, another was granted that same year, 
hut in the mean time the charter had arrived from the Grand 
Lodge of England. This charter was dated September 14, 1774, 
and it was on that date that St. George's Lodge came into 
existence. This charter was numbered one and it was the number 
of the Lodge up to 1800, when the number was changed to seven. 
In 1819 it was changed to eight and in 1839 it was again changed, 
this time to six, the present numeral. 

The seven original members were : Christopher Yates, 
master; Benjamin Hilton, Jr., senior warden; John Hughan, 
junior warden; Cornelius Van Dyke, xA.aron Van Patten, Robert 
Clench, and Robert Alexander. The first candidate for initiation 
was Teunis Swart. 

In the following two years the membership must have 
increased rapidly, for the minutes show that there were in 1776 
thirty-eight members of the Lodge in the Continental army fight- 
ing for the Independence of the Colonies. A notable fact in con- 
nection with St. George's is, that, while nearly all of the rural 
Lodges of the Colony failed to meet while the war was in progress, 
there was no interruption in the meetings of St. George's. On 
the contrary, there was great activity in it, for many of the Conti- 
nental soldiers in and about Schenectady were Masons and 
attended the meetings, and many of the officers of the Patriots' 
army who made honorable records for themselves, were made 
Masons in St. George's Lodge. 

That the principles of the order were rigidly observed — not- 
withstanding the fact that the war made money scarce and the 
times hard — is shown by two entries in the minutes of money 
given to the families of Walter Vrooman and Andrew Rynex, 
who had been captured and imprisoned by the British. 

The meeting places of the lodge were for many years in the 
homes of brother Masons. The first was Clenche's Tavern, 
where the brothers met till December 20, 1777, when they niet in 



St. Ccoi-'^c's Lod"C. 



119 



the home of Aaron 'Pruax and the) eontinued to meet there till 
1784, when the place was changed to "the home of the widow 
Clenche" and then in the home of John A. E'radt. 

In 1790 the membership had increased so greatly and the war 
being over, the financial condition was easier, so it was decided 
that the time had arrived when the Lodge could own its own 
home. With this end in view, the house belonging to Dr. \'an 
de \"olgen was purchased. This house stood on the south side of 
State street where the tracks of the Xew York Central & Hudson 
River Railroad are now. next to the corner opposite the Edison 
Hotel. The upper story of this house was fitted up for lodge 
rooms and the first floor was assigned to the tiler. Andrew Rynex. 
as his residence. .\nd still the lodge increased in membership, 
for in 1797 it became necessary to enlarge the building, and the 
Mark Lodge, which was instituted that \ear. met in it. In 1799 
there were 120 members in good standing. This \'an der Volgen 
property was owned and occupied by the Lodge till 1835 when 
the property was taken by the Schenectady and Utica Railroad 
on a long-term lease. This lease, which was inherited by the 
Xew^ York Central and Hudson River Railroad, expired in recent 
years, but the Lodge was unable to secure remuneration from that 
company. 

St. George's next home was the Lyceum Building, on Yates 
street, which they purchased shares in to the value of $650 and the 
right to educate four children of Masons in the L}ceum annuall}'. 
free of tuition. The Lodge held its meeting on one floor of the 
Iniilding and the school sessions were held on the other. This 
building is now standing. It is the hexagonal structure which is 
occupied by one of the Greek Letter Fraternities of Union College. 

The meetings were held in the Lyceum P.uilding for twenty- 
one years. ( )n January 23. i85(). they sold their shares in the 
Lyceum and rented the second floor of the \'an Home Ikiilding 
on State street, now known as Van Home Hall. This building 
was built by the man for whom it was named. He was a mayor of 
the citv and a master of the Tvodge. Agam a desire for a home of 



120 Old Schenectady. 

its own was felt and, as the means for indulging that desire were 
available, the Lodge purchased the lot and erected the handsome 
temple on Church street where it has met ever since. This build- 
ing, which is used for no other than Masonic purposes, is one of 
the finest and most dignified in its external and interior appearance 
of any lodge, in a city the size of Schenectady, in the State. A 
large sum was spent upon the decorations and furnishings in 
1896. 

It is a signficant fact, in connection with St. George's — 
significant in that it shows the prominence of the members of the 
Lodge throughout its long life of 130 years — that every mayor 
but one of Schenectady was a member of the Lodge and that nine 
of them had been its masters. They were : Mayor Joseph C. 
Yates, who was master, 1791 to '96; Mayor Henry Yates, Jr., who 
was master in 1803; Mayor Isaac M. Schermerhorn, who was 
master from 1828 to '43; Mayor James E. Van Home, who was 
master in 1853; Mayor Abraham A. Van Vorst, who was master 
in i855-'56; Mayor William J. Van Home, who was master in 
1871 ; Mayor T. Low Barhydt, who was master in i884-'85 ; 
Mayor John H. White, who was master in i886-'87; ^Nlayor 
William Howes Smith, who was master in 1896-97; and Mayor 
Horace S. Van Voast, who was master in 1901. 

Joseph C. Yates was Senator from 1806 to 1808 when he 
resigned to accept a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of 
the State. In 1822 he was Governor of New York. 

Henry Yates, Jr., was Senator from 1810 to 1814 and from 
1818 to 1822. He was a member of the Council of Appointment 
from 1812 to 1818. He was also a delegate to the Constitutional 
Convention of 1822, when the second constitution of the State 
was adopted. 



Chapter VIll. 
An Historical Bridge. 




THE OLD BRIDGE. 

HEX new communities, which had not yet finished the 
^VVT" struggle to conquer Nature, began to build bridges, to 
connect themselves with other struggling conmiunities, 
a degree of progress was shown, which was far ahead 
of that shown by the same communities, generations 
later, when they began to connect themselves with 
more distant parts, by means of railroads. For bridge- 
building is at the top of the mechanic arts and the 
skill and accuracy of the designing engineer must be 
greater than in any other kind of construction. 

So, in 1808, when the tiny city of Schenectady and the tinier 
hamlet of Scotia, together with the people of the Township of 
Glenville, decided to cross the eight hundred feet of the Mohawk 
river with a bridge, they exhibited a degree of progress which 
was most commendable. For years, the means of communication 
between the north and south banks of the Mohawk had been the 
canoes of the Indians. Later, after the White Man began to 
make the soil produce articles of trade, too cumbersome for the 
light and graceful birchbark or the more clumsy dug-out, his 
necessity produced the flat-boat and the batteau — the latter, being 
adopted from the French of Canada. A little later still, when 
the cable-ferry began to cross the Mohawk, from the foot of Ferry 
street to the opposite bank, on the Glenville side, there seemed to 
be nothing further needed. If a farmer with a load of produce, or 
an Indian trader, with a load of pelts wished to cross from the 
north to the south bank, on his way to Schenectady, and Albany, 
all that he had to do was to drive ()r walk upon the flat-boat and 



i 


lad 


' 




""""' v '.^^^^^^^^^^^Hj 


fc 


1 


fm 


■ 


1 




w 


, 'iWLL, „ 


fl *-] 


II 



'n\c Old Bridi^e. 123 

l)u!l himself and his wag'oii and horses across, hv means of the 
cal'jle. which was attaclied to Ixith l)anks ami ran over a pullev on 
the flat-boat. 

Toward the end of seventeen hundred, the necessity for 
better and quicker communication, which would not be affected by 
a flooded condition of the rix'er. be^an to 1)e felt; and so, a bridge 
was discussed. 

The Mohawk Tiirn])ike and iiridoi'e Com])any was incorpor- 
ated on April 4. 1800, by the following- men: Benjamin Walker. 
Peter Smith. Gaylord Griswold. William Alexander, Charles 
Nukirk, John Beardsley. Jacob C. Cuyler, Abraham Outhout, 
James Murdock. Alexander Alexander and John C. Cuyler. 

The articles of incorporation stated the purpose to be: "the 
erection of a bridge across the Mohawk, opposite the compact 
part of the City of Schenectady and for making a g^ood road to 
jjass near the house of William Kline, in Amsterdam ; thence, to 
Palatine bridge ; thence, through the village at the little-falls to 
the Court House of the County of Herkimer ; thence, to the village 
of Utica." 

The legislators of 1800 were, evidently, not experts in the 
gentle art of "graft," "rake-oft's" and "commissions," nor is it 
probable that they found, in their overcoat-pockets, blank 
envelopes, containing one or more bills of large denomination ; for 
a provision was incorporated, that the com])any might not acquire 
more than $10,000 worth of property: nor could it purchase 
property for any other i:»urpose — thus eliminating the ])ossil)ility 
of speculation. 

The first attempt was a bold one and it would be considered 
such, to-day ; for it was to build a suspension-bridge of wood, 
with only two spans across the 800 feet of water. With tlr.s 
idea, the work was begun by the construction of two massive 
al)utments and an ecpially massive jMcr. This pier is in the middle 
of the river, and is the largest of those on which the ])resent 
bridge rests. The work was begun in the autumn b\- The 
Mohawk l^>ri(lge Company in 1808 and l)y the time the ice was 



124 ^^d Schenectady. 

strong on the river, the work of setting the wooden cables in 
place was started, and the scaffolding, to support the immense 
strings of tightly-bolted-togethcr planks and timbers, was built 
upon the ice. The work was progressing well and the usual 
crowd, which was attracted by the building-operations, collected 
whenever work permitted, to watch the greatest undertaking yet 
attempted in this part of the young State. In those days, the 
Mohawk was much more to be depended upon than it can be now. 
The ice formed and broke up and the floods came and went, at 
times which were more nearly fixed. This was, probably, due to 
the fact that Nature had not been deranged by the destruction of 
the forests. They had the effect of holding back the rains and 
melting the snows, and of allowmg them to gradually run away 
to the sea, by the way of the Mohawk and Hudson. But the 
winter of 1809 was an exception. The river rose rapidly, in 
the January thaw, and the ice went out, taking the work of 
months and the hope and money of the workers with it. 

When the people had recovered from their disappointment, 
they began, again, to plan ; and, this time, they concluded to 
increase the number of spans to four, by building two other piers 
between the one in the middle and the abutments. These piers 
are the two other large ones to be seen to-day, which, with their 
older fellow, are solid as they were then. 

Tills four-span wooden suspension-bridge was massive. It 
was made of plank, 4 by 12 inches and from 12 to 14 feet long, 
bolted together, forming an immense, flexible cable of wood, 12 
inches thick, 3 feet wide and the full length of the river, with 
the addition of the extra length required for the loops, making 
the total length of the cables probal)ly 1,100 feet. These cables 
were braced by many timbers from the abutments and piers, 
weie .supported by great upright beams and, of course, the whole 
thing was anchored at the ends. This was practically the bridge; 
for the driveway had nothing to do with the cables, any more 
than to be suspended from them. That is to say, flood and ice 
mi'^ht carry away the driveway and not harm the super-structure. 



The Oh! Bridge. 125 

This plan showed the skill of the man who designed and 
built the hridse. It was accomplished l)y liani^ino; the driveway 
from the wooden cables by scjuare. wn.uoht-iron rods, which 
passed up throuii-h the cables and down thr.ni-h the tloor-tinibers. 
Instead of fastening- these rods, rigidly, holes were made through 
tl;e end.s, and pieces of iron, called keys, were passed through 
these holes, resting on immense washers. The floor timbers were 
supported in the same manner— only, in this instance, the keys 
were below the timbers. 

The result proved to be even more than was hoped for; 
for the flexible driveway was. often, jwunded and battered by 
floating ice and debris ; and the very flexibility of it saved it from 
destruction. On the rare occasions when portions were destroyed 
or damaged, the work of repair was easy ; for all that was neces- 
sary was to remove the keys whereupon the damaged part could 
be slipped out and new parts put in place. 

Probably, the greatest strain put on the bridge was one 
spring, many years ago, when the high water brought down a 
large canal-boat. Its nose struck the suspended floor a terrific 
blow. It hung, for a few minutes, and then, when the force of 
the water became irrisistible. the boat turned end-over-end. and 
went rushing down to destruction, on the rocks along the 
Xiskayuna shore. 

For many years, the only covering on the bridge was where 
the great loops of the cables passed over the upright timbers on 
the abutments and on the piers. The drop of the caliles was 
shingled, to protect the cables from the weather. 

As time went on. the joints of the bridge— unlike those of an 
ol<l man. which shrink and become stiff- began to stretch and 
draw out. This caused the bridge to sink between the piers : and. 
when the sinking had reached a point. to(^ low for safety, other 
piers were built under it. Instead of building them just high 
enough to meet the sunken i)ortion. thev were several feet higher. 
thus raising that pc^rtion and giving, in time, that odd up-and- 
down, wave-like appearance to the driveway, shown in the picture. 



126 



OhJ Schenectady. 




Finally, the company decided to cover the entire structure ; and, 
as the covering- l^etween the piers was no higher than was 
ahsolutely necessary, that patched-up appearance of several barns 
of diiTerent sizes joined together, was given. This system of 
covering was to save material and work ; for, had the entire 
bridge been covered to the same height, the expense would have 
I'een greatly increased. 

In 1814, an attempt was made by interested parties to obtain 
the passage of a bill, through the Legislature, which would have 
the efifect of increasing tolls; but this bill was bitterly opposed by 
the people and was finally defeated. Another bill was passed, or 
the original one was so amended, that the rights, asked for, in 
regard to straightening the turnpike and altering its direction 
somewhat, were included, with the toll-increasing portion 
eliminated. 

By the time 1815 arrived, the voung country was taking on 
some airs, on account of the success in the "War of 181 2," and 
on account of its ])rosperity. The individuals and families, who 
had made fortunes out of the Revolution and were making them 



The Oh! Bridge. jij 

out of the war then being- fought ; and those who had aecumu- 
lated money, in more leg^itimate ways, were beginning- to feel the 
eft'eets of weahh. So, in this year, a bill became a law, which 
was entitled: "An Act to increase the Rates of Toll for crossing 
the Mcihawk liridge, at the city of Schenectady, and for other 
jiurposes." 

The increase of tolls, in this Itill. was aimed al these i)ersons 
wlio were beginning to feel tlieir wealth; and a ])lav was made 
to the "common people," l^y making exceptions in their favor. 
The bridge cor])oration played to the gallery, to ol)tain its end, 
witlunit the op])osition of the ])e(i])le. just as corporations do. in 
these days. 

While the toll for wagons and sleds, carrxing wood to the 
First and Second Wards, (which was really the city ])roper, the 
Tlu'rd <nid I'ourth \\'ards being the towns of Rotterdam and 
Cdenville). and for farm-wagons, .going to and from work, was 
but 6 1-4 cents: and while nothing was char.ged for crossing the 
bridge to attend church, the toll for a two-wheeled pleasure- 
wagon, drawn by two horses, jacks or nuiles, was 183-4 cents, 
with 6 cents for each additional animal: and, for "a four-wheel 
pleasure-carriag^e, the body of which is susj^ended on springs," 
drawn by one animal, it was 25 cents, with i^ t-2 cents for each 
;ulditional animal, in this way, the rich were made to ]iay and 
the humble were (piieted, 1)\- ])laying to their pockets. It was 
clearly shown, by this act, that the keeping of a s])ring pleasure- 
carriage was considered evidence of affluence. 

This same act made it unlawful for the compau\- to pay 
more than eight per cent, to the stock-holders, upon its capitaliza- 
tion. 

.■\s time went (Mi, attempts were made, by the i^eople, to do 
away with the toll-bridge and to make it free. With this end in 
view, the old bridge was regidarly indicted by the grand jury, on 
a charge of being unsafe. Expert engineers were brought here 
to examiue the bridge and to i)ass ui)ou its safety. lUU a strange 
thing had bai)pened in tile building of a<l<lilioiial ])iers, under the 



128 Old Schenectady. 

portions which had sagged below the level of the driveway. These 
piers had changed the strncture from a suspension-bridge to a 
form of bridge of which the engineers had no knowledge. There 
was absolutely "o manner in which the expert engineers could 
determine where the strain of the bridge was. Some of the great 
upright timbers which support the loops of the cables, on the 
three original piers, had rotted off at their lower ends ; and still 
the structure was as strong as when it rested upon these timbers. 
In addition, the experts had testified as to the length of life of a 
wooden-bridge and this old bridge had lived more than twice 
as long and was, still, sound. 

In January, the late C. P. Sanders, who was the leader of 
the free-bridge party, succeeded in purchasing, quietly, in small 
blocks, 633 shares of the stock — thus gaining control of the com- 
pany. At a meeting of share-holders, Mr. Sanders succeeded in 
getting the late Dr. Barent H. Mynderse, the late Judge Walter 
T. L. Sanders and himself, elected directors — the other two, being 
Piatt Potter and William Van Vranken, who built the old mansion 
which stood on the south-east corner of State and Clinton streets, 
on the site of the Schenectady Savings Bank. Potter and Van 
Vranken were bitterly opposed to the selling of the bridge to make 
it free, Van Vranken. because his salary, as treasurer, was a good 
one and he disliked loosing it. 

Mr. Sanders generally accomplished what he wished. In 
1873, he had a l)ill presented to the Legislature, permitting the 
City of Schenectady, and the Towns of Glenville, Niskayuna, Clif- 
ton Park, Charlton, and Ballston to pay $12,000 for the old 
bridge ; $6,000 for Freemans bridge and $6,000 for the Aqueduct 
l)ridge, each town paying $4,000 of the total $24,000. New 
bridges were to be built and the bridges were to be free. Glen- 
ville was to kec]) the new bridge, from Scotia to the city, in 
repair. 

Before the bill was presented. Governor Dix was seen, in 
regard to it. Governor Dix said that, in his college days, at 
Union, he was familiar with the old wooden-bridge to Scotia 



The Old Bridge. 129 

and that the proposition to make it free, was a stcj) in the riolu 
(Hrection. In those days, the City and Towns of the Conntv were 
at hot war — the City takin,^- any p()ssil)le steps to defeat tlie 
Towns. Tt may he said, parenthetically, that some of the scenes 
which took i)lace. at meetin^c^s of the Board of Supervisors, would 
have ended in tlie ])ohce-court, in ihese davs. 

The opposition was led h)- Mayor A. W. Hunter and 
several other prominent men of the city. They sent emissaries 
10 the outlying- districts of the Towns, to stir up the people to 
join in the opposition. The hill was presented and the opposition 
gave notice that it would he opposed, when the hearing", in com- 
nuttee, wis c^iven. Mr. Sanders and tlie other friends of free- 
hridg-cs, foimd that tlu're would l)e a delay; so anotlu'r hill was 
drawn and suhstituted. and wdien Mayor Hunter and the other 
members of the opposition ap])eared before the committee, at the 
liearin^-, they were told that they had no standing, as another 
hill had been presented, asking' for ])ermission f(<r (ilcnville alone 
to btyv the old wooden bridge. This bill became a law. 

On the day the bill was to go to the Governor, for his sig- 
nature, a clever bit of diplomac\- was used, to help the cause of 
the free-bri'lge advocates. I'.oth the friends ^md ()])i)Osers of the 
bill went to Albanx", to ap]X"ar before the C.overnor. On arriving 
there, it was fou.nd that tlu' Covt-rnor was ont of town. This 
was fatal to the sn]>])orters of a free-bridge: so Mr. Sanders and 
some of the otiiers went u]) Maiden Lane, a short cut, trom the 
station to the ("apitol. and made known their ditticnlty. h'riends 
there a' ranged matters, by having a man, who resembled (lovcr- 
nor LM.K, in form, to sit in his chair. It so ha])i)ened that not one 
of the opposition knew the ("Governor, by sight: so, when they 
were ushered into his room, they stated their case and the man. 
sitting in the Governor's chair, assured the opposition that he 
would not sign the bill ; and so thev went home, rejoicing. When 
Governor Dix returned to Albany, be signed the bill and the 
opi position went to sec him, in anything but a happy frame of 



130 Old Schenectady. 

mind ; but when they were presented, they found that the man 
who had made the promise and the man who signed the bill were 
very different individuals. 

The success of Mr. Sanders and his free-bridge party and 
the clever manner in which the town had been forced into advo- 
cating the greatest good, for the greatest number, that is, free 
bridges, somewhat roiled the voters. They vowed that they would 
get even, when election-time came; but again, they had to deal 
with a man whose political acumen fitted him for state, rather 
than count}- leadership. 

(3n election day, all the stores antl the two or three broom- 
shops in Scotia, were shut down and the men sent to the Town 
House, to "whoop-it-up" for free-bridges. They arrived upon 
the scene, with a shout, and everytime that they odw anybody, 
especially a new comer, the}- shouted for free-bridges and they 
drank to the success of free-bridges. Every time that the 
opponents attempted any enthusiasm, they were silenced by the 
shouts of the others. Finally, the leaders of the opposition got 
together and decided that, as everybody seemed to be for free- 
bridges, they did not care to be snowed under, and to be laughed 
at ; so the majority of them voted the free-bridge ticket, which 
put Mr. Sanders in the Board of Supervisors. 

Mr. Van Vranken and Mr. Potter still opposed the sale of 
the old wooden bridge; so Mr. Sanders asked them to say what 
they would do about it. Mr. \'an X'ranken said that he would 
agree to sell for so much a share, the total, amounting to $12,(')00, 
he, thinking that the extra $600 would kill the whole business. 
Mr. Sanders, as supervisor, ])aid the $12,000 and the $600 was 
raised by private subscription in Scotia. 

When the time came to pay for the old l)ridge, another very 
clever move was made, which saved the inhabitant-taxpayers of 
Glenville from paying a cent of the additional assessment for 
raising the $12,000 and made the non-resident tax])ayers bear 
the burden of the assessment for the i)urchase of the bridge. 
I'his was accomplished by the vote, authorizing the using of the 



'/'lie Old Bridge. 131 

accumulated funds, obtained from the old (|uil-i"enls and from 
the commutation of the (|uit-renls, to pay, for the inhabitant-tax- 
payers, the extra assessment for the purchase of the brids^r. In 
(.rder to make this clear, it will be necessary to go back into the 
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 

In the earliest da_\s, when the land belonged to the Crown, 
induceiueuls were offered to Coiu't favorites to go to the Colony, 
for settlement, so ihat the domain would be greatly increased in 
value, and, thus, make a resultant increase in royal revenues. 
Immense tracts of land were granted to these men, by Royal 
I'atent, the consideration (or price) being tliat they should cause 
to be settled and worked, a certain i)ortion of the grants. 

To accomplish this, the Proprietors, or the Patroons, offered 
inducements to immigrants to settle u])on their lands. These 
settlers were given farms. var\ing in size, for which no lump-sum 
in cash wa: i)aid. but a nominal rent, called "(|uit rents," which 
were to be paid forever. For a century or more, these rents were 
])aid in produce of the land. Sometimes, it was a small quantity 
of wheat and the like ; in one curious contract, the rent was seven- 
tenths of a board ; a board being twelve feet long, six inches wide 
and one inch thick. After the people began to be more prosperous 
and money was not an unusual possessicMi, small sums of money 
w^ere paid. vSometimes it was a lumivsum yearly; but generally 
it was so nuich an acre, ten or fifteen cents being the usual rental. 
While this was so small, in the individual case, the total w\as con- 
siderable ; for the grants to the Pro])rietors included tens of 
thousands of acres. 

Up to 1820, Cdenville was the fourth ward of v'^chenectadv 
and Rotterdam was the third. In this year, they were set off into 
towns. Tn order to equalize matters, Cdenville, (for that is the 
only town we are concerned with), was divided into "Creat 
Lots" — the town t.nking one and the city the next, and where the 
valuations did not e(|uaHze, city lots were given to the town. 

When anyone wished to obtain a farm, from lands belonging 
to the town, these jiurchasers paid no money, other than the 



The Old Bridge. 133 

annual (juil-renl. Should a man wish to rid liiniscll of the rent, 
he would pay to the tnw u a sum of mune}-, which would repre- 
sent the prnicipal ol which the rent would he the interest. For 
instance; if the rent was $7 a year, the tenant would pay $i(X), 
that being- the jjrincipal. the interest of w Inch would be $7. The 
town loaned this mune\- and ])ut it out to interest, in various wa}s; 
so that, in time, it became a considerable sum. 

W hen the agreement was made to sell the old l)ridge, a 
resolution was ado])led, l)y the trustees of the town, to api)l} this 
accumulated fund on the inhabitant taxes. \n this way, the 
inhabitant taxpayers of Gleuville paiil only the usual comit\' tax — 
the excess of assessment for the purchase of the bridije being- 
paid by the trustees from the quit-rents' fund. Ikit the non- 
resident taxpayers and the railroads had to pay the full assess- 
ment. As a matter of fact, they paid for the bridge. 

The old bridge was sold for $500 and many of its timbers 
went to build some of the barns and stables wliich are standing- in 
Scotia and the surrounding country, to-day. 

When the time came to tear down the old bridge, it was 
thought that it would l)e an easy job; but it was so strongly built, 
that the work was really, very difficult. The long square rods, 
which supported the floor of the driveway and the hundreds of 
bolts, which held the planks and timbers together, had become 
so twisted by the strain, when the high water was on and by the 
blows of debris, which smashed against it, in the flood, that it 
was impossible to pull them out. The only thing which could be 
done was to saw the bridge apart; and this was accomplished. A 
man by the name of Aaron Burr was the architect of the old 
wooden-bridge, and if his namesake of Revolutionary days, had 
btiilded as well, his name would now be among those of the 
honored ones. 

The contract for the present bridge was given to The Rem- 
ington Agricultural Co., for $29,993.07. Other expenditures 
were: Price paid for the old bridge, less th.e price it was sold 
for, was $11,500: fllling ajjproaches, $400; toll hou.se, ^iC^)./S', 



134 



Old Schenectady. 



stoning abutments and piers, $558.75 ; raising and repairing abut- 
ments and piers. $15,076.23; rip-rap, piles, etc., $3,094.81; stone 
for approaches, $147.78; filling abutments, $189.75; extras, $634; 
to the engineer, $1,125, niaking a total of $60,355.34. These 
figures are not generally known ; for the book in which they were 
kept was mysteriously lost, by the town official, whose business it 
was to guard it, on his way home from town-meeting. 




Interior nf the 'Bridge. 



Chapter IX, 
Early Transportation. 



RIVER NAVIGATION. 

'^ ^^^ ^ HK earliest means of coinnuinication between settle- 
Jj nients for travel and espeeially for carrying the pelts 
1.^^^ from the wilderness and the inland and Great Lakes, 
&vP' ^^^^ ^^^^ l)irch-bark canoe of the Indians. These were 
TAT succeeded b}- batteaux, durham boats and finally l)v 
^^^^ canal boats and the railroad for which Air. Feather- 
^^^V stonliaugh had worked so man}' years. 
^^^^ In the early days the navigation of the Mohawk 
^^^-^ was difficult for there were man}- "rifts" or sub- 
merged piles of river stones and pebbles which had been forced 
up to near the surface by the idiosyiicrasies of the current or by 
freaks in the current due to unusually high water in the spring or 
ice jams. Although some of these "rifis" have changed, or 
entirely disappeared during generations, they were practically 
permanent during a lifetime so they were all well known and each 
had its distinctive name. 

Schenectady being the easternmost end of river navigation, 
the "rifts" were all west of Schenectad} . The first of these, a 
few miles west of the city, was called, "Six tiats rift," then came 
"Fort Hunter rift," Caughnawaga, Keator, (the worst on the 
river, there being a fall of ten feet.) lirandywine, at Canajoharie, 
very rapid but short; l^heler, near Fort Plain, and finally, Little 
Balls, so called in distinction from the great falls at the mouth 
of the river near the City of Cohoes. 

The first freight and passenger vessel, as has been said, was 
the birch-bark canoe and this was the only means of carrying- 
freight upon the river up to 1740. Al)OUt that year, several of 



River Navigation. 1 3 y 

the great Indian traders, among them heing vSir W'ilham Johnson 
(as he later hecame), John Duncan, Daniel Camphell, James 
Ellicc, Charles Martin, having seen the superior qualities of the 
batteaux of the Canadians, introduced them, and began to use 
them on the Mohawk. The batteau was longer than the canoe, 
broader amidship, sharp at bow and stern and nuich more strongly 
built than the canoe. This latter quality made it i)ossil)le to drag 
them over shallow places, an operation which the canoe could not 
stand without serious injury. 

These boats were forced up the lesser rapids bv means of 
poles, work at which the rivermen were most skillful. At the 
stronger rapids they would be towed by ropes leading horn the 
boats to a number of the "crew" on shore. Where there were 
falls, as at Little Falls, the loads were carried arcnuul and then 
the batteau was treated in the same manner. Or. when it was 
desired to go from one navigable stream to another, as at Fort 
Stanwix from the Mohawk, to Wood creek, the same laborious 
carrying was necessary. From Wood creek they continued to 
Oneida lake, the Oswego river to Oswego, on Lake Ontario, 
whence they could go to other settlements or trading posts on 
that lake or down the St. Lawrence river. If they wished to go 
into the far west to Detroit or Mackinaw, it was necessary to 
carry around Niagara falls to Chippewa. These batteaux were 
in use till about 1790. 

In this century of from forty to eighty miles an hour in 
express trains, electric trolley cars and steamboats, such a journey 
does not appeal to the people of to-day. The imagination cannot 
picture the toil and hardship, the wet, cold and hunger, the danger 
from natural causes, from wild beasts and wilder men. Perhaps 
nothing will so strongly emphasize the hardihood of these traders 
and boatmen as the statement in a letter from the wardens of 
St. George's Church in Schenectady to the secretary of the Society 
for the Promotion of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, in London, 
that it was dif^cult to pledge a fixed salary for the rector because 
so many of the congregation were Indian traders to the Great 



3« 



Old Schcncctad\. 



Lakes and did not always return within a year. Besides the 
hardships and dangers, these men were deprived for months, and 
even a year, of the society of their faniihes and even the primitive 
comforts of their homes. 

Ahont 1790, General Philip Schuyler, who was then Sur- 
veyor General of the State, organized a company known as The 
Inland Lock Navigation Co. Among the stockholders were many 
Schenectadians. This company constructed locks and a short 




canal at Little Falls and a canal connecting the Mohawk with 
Wood creek thus doing away with the two carries. The locks 
and short canals were completed in 1795. In that year began 
Schenectady's greatest prosperity ; a prosperity, all things con- 
sidered, which was greater than that of 1904 with the fifteen 



River Nm-lgation. '39 

,ho.us.uul .n.l.U.yes „1 tl.c General Electric and Aincrican L..c.,n,..- 
tive Companies and their combined pa,- rolls of $700,000 a .nonth. 
In 1795 and '96 Jacob S. Glen, Eri Lusher, Jonathan W alton, 
S N Bayard and other of the great shippers, added to tne 
already considerable wharfage on the Binni Kill and btnlt 
additional storehouses of great capacity. 

Then began the era of the .lurhan, boat, a name wh.ch 
Major MacMurray, Pearson's edttor, tinnks was derived tro.n 
the same source as the dorey, whtch .s still the popular s^nall 
boat of the fisherman of Long Island Sound and the \ew Eng- 
land coast. The durham boat, if .tot a thing of beauty, was one 
of c^reat utility. They were in shape sontething hke the modern 
ca,ral boat but had finer lines fore and aft. the bow an s en, 
being of a roundtng taper instead of blunt. Ihey had short 
decks fore and aft and narrow decking along the steles, upon 
which the boatnten stood or walked back an.d forth whtle pohug 
up rapids. Th.y were provided with masts near the c.r, er o 
the boats whici, were rigged with square, or slup sa Is, ad 
.ere onlv of use when the wind was aft or c,uarter,ng, b af.ng 
„p the w,nd being tntpossible. These boats were trout tet, 
tventv tons burthen and had crews of five or -'";-•. 
greater size an.l weight of the durhant boats made d b ,^ t 
forcing them up the lesser "rifts" ntttch greate . Ttoe 1 ™g 
strength in union, it was the custon, for several boats o leave 
or n company so that the contbined crews of all coul t e more 
lasilv pull and push each ,n<Uvitlual boa, up ^'^^^^^^^ 
The'hfe was tough and the n,en were tougher a, d, hk thu, 
JaUw ter brother,;hen in port they generally succeeded ,n bav.n 
a time which has been aptly described by one who knew, as .X 
mnnkev and parrot time.'' . . 

E i Lusher, being sotncwhat possesse.l of a sp,r,t o, progress 
i„ ,8, ttabhshed a daily line of .lurhan, packets be wee 
Schenectady and Utica for carrying 'f^^J^^^;^^ ^^^ 
of being open for the greater portion ot ,i u ^^ ^ 
case in the frei.ght boats, they were provnled w.th a 



I40 Old Schenectady. 

handsomely furnished. Their capacity was twenty-five passengers 
and their schedule was thirteen hours from Utica to Schenectady ; 
from Schenectady to L'tica two days, if the wind was up stream 
and the water was high, otherwise "the schedule was husted." 

The carrying of skins and travelers toward the east was hy 
means of packhorses first of all and then heavy, rough carts were 
used hetween Schenectady and Alhany. From All)any to the 
then, as now, great shipping port of New York, the pelts were 
carried on sloops and the merchandize and necessities for the 
settlers were brought back by them. The trip each way, under 
ordinary condition, required seven days. This was the means 
of commimication between Schenectady and the west, with New 
York, before the Revolution. It is a notable fact that the first 
mail to arrive in Schenectady was on April 3, i7C)3. This was a 
letter from Sir William Johnson to Samuel Fuller. 

While the Revolution had iiupoverished the country and 
reduced the population, it was the means of arousing the people to 
an appreciation of the necessity for going ahead, especially in 
the matter of greater facilities for communication between out- 
lying settlements and New York. 

Isaac Wyck, Talmage Hall, and John Kinney were granted 
exclusive right by the Legislature in 1785, to maintain a stage 
line between Albany and New York. Their charter required that 
they should have at least two covered wagons drawn by four 
horses and that they should make the trip each way, at least once 
a week. Should they fail to do so, they forfeited their charter. 
The first trip was made in June of that year. The start was 
made from the New York terminus at Hull's tavern and from 
Albany at the King's Arms (later the City Tavern) both stages 
meeting halfway, at Poughkeepsie. The fare was eight cents a 
mile. In 1804 the trips were made in three days, the stops over 
night being at Peekskill and Rhinebeck, and the fare was 
reduced to $8. Previous to 1818 the stages had been springless, 
but in that year the great leathern straps were used on which to 
sling the body of the coach. This improved traveling and made 



River Navigation. 1 4 1 

the coaches comfortable. It was not long before the carrying 
business had increased so greatly that one hundred stages left 
Albany over the several routes daily. This, of course, made 
Albanv a very busy place. 

In 1793, Schenectady had its first regular stage line. Moses 
r.cal. the proprietor of a first-class tavern, (a l^rick building 
which was on the site of the old Givens house, now the site of 
the Edison hotel), started a stage line to Albany. Johnstown and 
Canajoharie. the stage making the journey once a week. The 
fare was three cents a mile. This line was a great convenience 
for travelers and increased trade between Schenectady and other 
l)laces and was profitable for Beal. 

The ])rofitableness of stages appealed so strongly to John 
Hudson, who kept the Schenectady Coft'ee House, on the south- 
west corner of I'nion and Ferry streets.— where Shankle's grocery 
store stands— that he established a line of stages between Schenec- 
tadv and Alban) and made the journey three times a week. John 
Rogers, of Ballston. established a line to connect with Hudson's, 
thus giving through communication with Saratoga Springs. In 
,7<M there were five -reat post routes terminating at Albany. 
They were: to Xew York City; Burlington. Vermont; Brookfield, 
Massachusetts; Spring-field. ^lassachusetts ; and to Schenectady. 
Johnstown. Canajoharie. German Flats. Whitestown. Old Fort 
Schuyler, Onondaga. Aurora. Scipio, Geneva. Canandaigua. and 
eventuallv to Buffalo. Each of the four eastern lines carried a 
weeklv niail ; on the western, once in two weeks. The busmess 
,,n the western line had increased so greatly by 181 2 that to see 
ton <.r twelve stages on the Dike between Schenectady and Scotia 
at one time was not unusual. 

On August 17, 1807. the first Hudson river steamboat. The 
Cleremont, was established. The time for leaving Xew ^'ork was 
at 6 o'clock every Saturday afternoon. The time required in 
reachino- West Point was ten hours; Newburgh, thirteen hours; 
Poughkeepsie, seventeen hours ; Catskill, twenty-five hours; Hud- 
son twenty-nine hours; and Albany thirty-four hours. The 



MoJunck & Hudson R. R. i43 

return was made from Albany every Wednesday morning at 8 
o'clock. The fares were: from New York to West Point, $2.50; 
to Newburgh, $3.00: to Poughkeepsie. $3.50; to Hudson, $5.00; 
and to Albany, S7.00. Passengers wishing to stop at other than 
the regular places paid at the rate of Si for each twenty miles. 
:SIeals on board the boat were fifty cents each. Now, in 1904, 
the charges are reversed : the fare being greatly reduced and the 
cost of meals greatly increased. 

MOHAWK & HUDSON R. R. 
The first steps toward the present vast railroad systems of 
the North American Continent were taken in Schenectady by a 
resident of Duanesburg, Schenectady County, a man wdiose repu- 
tation as a diplomat, scientist, explorer and author, extended over 
both hemispheres. 

George W. Featherstonhaugh. an English gentleman— the 
son-in-law of Judge James Duane, the patriot, statesman, and 
friend of Washington— was residing on his thousand-acre estate 
in Duanesburg in 181 2. Plis acquaintance with George Stephen- 
son caused him to investigate the possibilities of the steam 
locomotive as a means of opening new territory and increasing 
the commerce and wealth of the country. 

In 1812 ^Ir. Featherstonhaugh began a series of articles 
which were published in the periodicals of that day. They 
excited the ridicule of the masses. His intellectual equals con- 
sidered him a visionary and very few gave his ideas serious con- 
sideration. To a man of his calibre, ridicule did not discourage 
nor did faith elate. He foresaw the possibilities of the steam 
railroad and continued to write on the subject and to investigate. 
For thirteen years he was the only believer in the locomotive. 

At last, finding that he must move in the matter alone, he, on 
December 28, 1825, published the following notice of application 
in the Schenectadv Cabinet, a newspaper: 

-Application will be made to the Legislature at the opening 
session, for the passage of an act to incorporate the Mohawk & 



144 



Old Schcncctad\. 



Hudson Railroad Company, with an exclusive grant for a term of 
years for the construction of a raih'oad betwixt the Alohawk and 
Hudson rivers, with a capital of $300,000 to be increased to 
$500,000, if necessary, and to receive such certain tolls on the 
same as may seem fit for the Legislature to grant." 

It is an interesting fact that the proprietor of The Ca1)inet 
told Mr. Featherstonhaugh that if the charter were granted he 
could pay for the advertisement, otherwise there would be no 
charge. The charter vvas granted on March 26, 1826, after Mr. 
Featherstonhaugh had appeared before the Legislature to argue 
the matter and explain his ideas and the reason for his faith in 
railroads. He believed that if the two great water-ways of the 
State, over which thousands of tons of freight were transported 
yearly to and from the great markets of the east and the fertile 
territory of the interior of Xew York, were connected by a rail- 
road, that the practicability of railroads could be better demon- 
strated than anywhere else. There were l)ut two incorporators; 
Stephen \'an Rensselaer, the last Patroon, who was the 





k if lhi,ls(,n Railway, Crane Sircrl, Mt. PUasanI, 



MoluKck c-T- Iliulsnii R. R. 145 

l)resident, and George W. Featherstonhaus^h, the vice-president. 
I'eter Fleming- was the construction engineer. Mr. Meniing's 
estimate for the construction of t\vent\ miles of railroad was 
$320,000. Mr. Featherstonhaugh went to England to consult 
with George Stei)henson the year the charter was granted and 
remained in Knr()i)e traveling with his wife. It was not till 1828 
I hat he returned to America. Mr. Fleming wrote to him soon 
.ifter his return in regard to mone\- matters in connection with 
the road. Later in tlie >ear the mansion in Duaneshtn-g was 
destroyed l)y fire. This loss of the home together with previous 
deaths in his family so depressed Mr. Featherstonhaugh that he 
gave up all his large interests to his agents and went to Xew 
^'ork city to reside. 

While it is true that the railroad hetwcen Baltimore and 
W'asliington was older as a road in actual operation than the 
.Moliawk & Hudson, the subject of railroads for ])ractical pur- 
]ioses originated in v^chenectadv with Mr. Featherstonhaugh. 

It seems strange that this railroad history should be so 
generally unknown and that the management of the child of the 
Moliawk cV- Hudson Railroad, the .Xew ^■ork Central & Hudson 
River Railroad, should l)e ignorant of it seems stranger still. 
That it was unaware of these facts is surmised from the con- 
tents of a folder advertising its St. l.ouis Fair exhibit. The 
following is (|uoted from a paragraph in the folder: 

"As long ago as i<Si 1 Cdiancellor Livingston, who was 
as.sociated with Robert I'ulton in the invention of the steamboat, 
received a letter from some "wild, hair-brained individual' asking 
Ids oi)inion of thv' practicability of railroads. After giving the 
matter due consideration, the worthy chancellor replied, that 
besides being too dangerous, it would be impossible to build rails 
that would sustain so heavy a weight as you propose moving at 
the rate of four miles an hour on wheels." 

This onlv shows in a striking manner how tiny a thing is 
world-wide fame in the commercial mind. 

It so happens that the "wild hair-brained individual" was 



146 



Old Schenectady. 



George W. Featherstonliaugh, the gentleman who was honored 
by the countries of Europe and the United States for his work 
in science, Hterature, exploration, and his ability as a diplomat ; 
the personal friend of Henry Clay, who was a frequent visitor in 
the Featherstonhaugh mansion in Duanesbnrg ; James Madison, 
John Ouincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Daniel Webster, John 
C. Calhoun, Lafayette and Joseph and Jerome IJonaparte, to 
say nothing of the friends in the government of Great Britain. 
Besides, it also so happens that the "worthy chancellor" ( fancy 
the use of worthy in connection with a Livingston of that day) 
was a relative of the beautiful Sarah Duane, the wife of Mr. 
Featherstonhaugh. 

This is indeed the centurv and nation in which a (hollar casts 
a shadow over fame not based upon the gold standard. 

It was in August, 1831. that the locomotive. DeWitt Clinton, 
and a train of coaches made the first trij) from All)any to 
Schenectady. ( )f the fourteen passengers wlio made that first 




wk & Hudson Railt 



iri]), one of thcni. Mr. h)hn Matthias, lived to celebrate his 
hundredth birthda\' anniversary in vSchenectady in November, 
1903. He remembered the trip and its incidents distinctly. 

When the public contemplates the surroundings of a multi- 
millionaire and tries to guess at the unlimited things he can do and 
llu' value of the treasures he can own, to think of him as having 
1)efn a son of a poor father takes considerable imagination. When 
llu' njulti-millionaire is the greatest railroad svstem in the worid. 



Moliazck c'r Hudson R. R. 



'47 



even greater imagination is required to think of it as ever having 
been weak and poor, yet sneh was the condition of the parent of 
the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. That this 
railroad, with its ten thousand miles of tracks; its influence in 
the affairs of the wealthiest State of the Union ; with its stock 
quoted up to a point almost beyond the dreams of avarice, could 
be the off-spring of a 



parent which was in 
such a condition in 1839 
that its stockholders re- 
quested a statement by 
the management of its 
possessions, its earnings, 
and its ability to meet its 
obligations, yet such was 
the fact. 

The Mohawk & Hud- 
son Railway Company 
began its active exist- 
ence in 1 83 1, by connect- 
ing the cities of Albany 
and Schenectady, 16 
miles apart. On Decem- 
ber 14, 1839, a letter was 
addressed to the execu- 
tive committee of the 
road consisting of John 
B. Lasala, David Wood, 
Archibald Craig, Thomas 
Palmer and W. L. F. 
Warren, requesting, first, 
a statement as to the 
number of passengers 
and quantity of freight 
transported, with the receipt 
secon 



MOHAWK & HUDSON RAILRO.AD 
The following arr.ingements -vvill be ob- 
served oil U.e Railroa 1, unlil furlher notice: 

Carriages will leave the bea-i of the iBcHnecl 
plane | of a mile from the city of Scheneclaciy, 
at the foUowlDg times: 

i pa<l 4 in the morning. 
8 o'clock A. M. 
12 do nocm. 
2 do P. M. 
4 do P M 
r . Leave Albany at the head of LyHius street 2 
miles from the Hudson River, at the follovrins 
times. 

^ past 6 o'clock, A. M 
Irt do A. M 

i past 4 do P- M 

The Locon.otive Engine DE WITT CLIN- 
TON, will dep.>rt in the folloing order: 

Leave head of plane at Schenectady at So- 
clock, A. M. and 2 P. M. Head o» Lydms street, 
Albany, at 10 o'clock, A. M. and .i past .4, P. 

Passengers talAi I the Carriages at Schenecta- 
dy at i half past 4 in the mornins, wilt arrive at 
Albany insensofi for the? o'clock raommg Steam- 
boats Those leaving at 12 o'clock, in ampi Rea- 
son for the afternoon SteaM. boats. AI»o, those 
taking the Locomotive at 2 P. M- will ainveat 
Albany in .season for (Tie 4 o clock Boats. 

Passages mny be secured at the office of Messrs. 
Thorp's fiiSprague's, in Albany and Schenectady. 
rrKC.indua.ng stage fare^^^ct.^^^^^^. 

Agent of the H. & M. Raikoad Co. 

N. B. Passengers who may desire it, will be 
accommodated at each end of the>Railway with 
tickets at 50 cents. Transt>ortation at the ends 
of the Railroad will be fuitirshcd by Messrs. 
Thorps &. Sprag'ic. 

822 tf 



abU ofihf Mohau-k & Hudson Rail-. 



since the first year of the road — 
disbursements each vear in detail — third, cash on hand 



Mohcla'k' c'r lludsdll R. I\. 149 

and assets on Decciul)ci- 31. 1(839 — fourlli, liahililies to same 
date — fifth, description and valne of personal property — sixth, 
value of the real estate not recpiired in operating the road — 
seventh, regulations and restrictions under which the income is 
kept and dishursed — eiglu, the measures adopted, or proposed, 
to reduce expenses— ninth, state of repair of the road and rolling- 
stock and any other important information. 

Thomas Palmer, the secretary, and John Costigan, the 
superintendent of the company, took the matter in hand and in 
January, 1840, submitted their report. 

In 1832, the year the road began to operate, no account of 
the number of passengers was kept, but the receipts for carrying 
them were, $5i.C)00 and the cost, $27,300. Xo freight was carried 
that year. 

In 1833, 115,700 first class passengers w^ere earned for 
$69,300 at an expense of $35,600. The freight from Albany was 
2,100 tons and from Schenectady, 870, with receipts of $3,700 and 
cost of $1,000. 

In 1834, 135,300 first class and 8,100 second class passengers 
were carried for $86,200, at an expense of $37,200. The freight 
from All)any was 5.200 and from Schenectady 11,300 tons; the 
receij^ts were $12,700 anil the expenses were, $13,600. 

in 1835 there were 164,100 first class antl 8,600 second class 
passengers carried for $84,700, at an ex]x'nse of $42,900. The 
freight from .\lbany was 10,500, and from Schenectady. 19.700 
tons; the receipts were, $26,200, and expenses, $23,200. 

In 1836 there were 152,800 first class and 6.600 second class 
passengers carried for $103,400, at an expense of $54,800. Tlie 
freight from Albany was 12,800, an.d from Schenectady, 18.500 
tons; the receipts were $28,100, and the expenses. $23,900. 

In 1837 there were 130.100 first class and 7.900 second class 
])assengers earned \cx $97,700. at an expense of $63,100. The 
freight from All)any was 6,300. and from Schenectady. 10.300 
ions; the receipts were $14,400. and the expenses. $19,900. 

In 1838 there were 134,100 first class and 9,400 second clas.s 
passengers carried for $101,000. at an exjuMise of $64,900. The 
freight from .\lbany was 8,900, and from Schenectady, 11.500 
tons; the receipts were $19,200. and expenses were $19,200. 



150 Old Schenectady. 

in 1839 there were 153,100 lirst class and 13,600 second class 
passengers carried for $116,600, at an expense of $59,000. The 
freight from Albany was 12,300, and from Schenectady 14,000 
tons; the receipts were $25,800, and the expenses $25,400. 

The total receipts for carrying freight for the seven years 
ending with 1839 were $130,400, and the total expense $126,500. 
An excess of but $3,900 over the expenses. The passenger busi- 
ness showed a much better condition of affairs. The total 
receipts for the seven years, were $692,800, and the expenses 
$385,000, making the excess of receipts over expenses of $307,800. 
While everyone knows that vigorous maturity must be preceded 
by youth and feeble infancy, the public has been accustomed, so 
long, to think of the New York Central Railroad by the thousand 
miles and its business by the million dollars that this tiny business 
of the parent company seems hardly possible. The number of 
tons of freight carried from Albany in the seven years was 
58,300, and from Schenectady 86,500. 

There was a great variation of fares for the single trip 
either way. From January 1 to April 12, 1833, it was O2 1-2 
cents; to September 6, 75 cents; to March 9, 1834, 2>7 1-- cents; 
to April 17, 183O, 50 cents; to August 25, 62 1-2 cents; and from 
August 26, 1836, to January i, 1840, it was 75 cents. A con- 
cession was made to the citizens of the two cities, as they were 
sold return tickets for 62 1-2 cents each way. Local passengers 
in second class cars paid 37 1-2 cents and emigrants from the 
tow-boats, 31 1-4 cents each. 

In this same period the freight rates were, from Schenectady 
to Albany, for freight from the canal Ijoats, 62 1-2 cents per ton, 
but if a ton of freight was sent by a citizen of Schenectady, he 
had to pay one dollar a ton and if it was transhipped from the 
Saratoga Railroad the charge was $1.25 a ton. 

It was evidently the custom to "soak" shippers when the 
busy season began, for the report explains the reason for the large 
freight receipts in November and December, by saying: "This 
may be attributed to the anxiety of owners and forwarders of 



Mohawk cr IIiids,>n R. R. 151 

produce to gel the same to market before the closing- of naviga- 
tion, and also to the fact, that a number of canal boats, heavily 
freighted with liour, etc., were stopped at Schenectady and 
vicinity, by the sudden closing of the canal and were obliged to 
discharge their cargoes at that place, which otherwise would have 
licen carried by canal to Alban}." Then follows the ease of 
conscience for taking advantage of necessity by over-charging. 
"In cases of this kind, when the press of business is great, owners 
and forwarders are willing ( ?) to advance the rate of toll, in 
consideration of the advantage they expect to gain by expedition, 
and the loss and risk sustained by delay." 

The receipts for the year ending December 31, 1839, were 
$155,531.52. Some of the items were as follows: Rent of tene- 
ments occupied by employes of the company, $1,186.98; fuel sokl 
to employes at cost, $467.11 ; sale of horses, harnesses and sleighs 
to different persons, $531.39; sale of old iron pipe, rope, lumber 
and iron safe, $910; sale of land in Schenectady, $1,095.42; sale 
<)i paving stones to Albany, $324.75 ; carrying U. S. mail, 
$4,688.66, all of which shows that the railroad was not above turn- 
ing an honest cent in almost any kind of business. 

Some of the expenses during the same period, were : Labor 
and material in the machine, blacksmith and woodworking shops, 
$11,881.91; wages of men at Schenectady inclined plane (this 
was in the present Xinth Ward, formerly Mount Pleasant ) 
$2,505.73; the same in Albany, $1,522.98; under the oddly mixed 
items, of salaries for president, secretary, oil, insurance, etc.. 
$4,993.76. Of this sum $300 was paid every year to the president 
and $f,ooo to the secretary and they both survived it. The presi- 
dency was a fat job in those days. In 1839 the value of the entire 
])roperly of the company was $156,137.00. 

The rolling slock of the road in 1839. consisted of 24 coaches, 
called "gothic." witli a seating capacity for twenty passengers 
each. These cost about $800 each. There were fifteen other 
coaches for passengers of a plainer style. The baggage of the 
traveling public (drummers were few in those days evidently) 



l"" 






'& 


mm^ 











^ 




L, 





Molunck c'r Hiulson R. R. '53 

was carried in thrcu baggai^-e wagons, while the better class of 
freight was carried in thirty-five covered wagons. There were 
forty-six "hulk" wagons, probably the grand-parent of the modern 
gondola car. fifteen stake wagons, for maintenance of way, now 
called construction cars : two old baggage wagons and one small 
freight wagon, and fifteen balance wagons for the inclined plane ni 
Albany, and seventeen for the plane in Schenectady. 

This inclined plane was located at the ttjj) of the bluff in 
Mount Pleasant, and it may be remarked incidentally, that the 
blufif in 1839 was much more abrupt than it is now^ There were 
great windlasses at the to]) and bottom of the inclined plane, 
worked bv a stationary engine. Around them was a great hempen 
cable, such as was used for ships. There were parallel tracks 
and on one were the balance wagons, loaded with stone and 
^ittached to the cable. On the other tracks was the incoming 
train, also attached to the cable on the other side. If the train 
was heavilv loaded, all of the balance wagons were used as a 
counter poise, if lighter, some of them were left off. the purpose 
being to have the train a trifie heavier than the loaded balance 
wagons. When a train was to be raised from the foot of the 
plane, the balance wagons were a trifle heavier than the train. In 
this wav the balance wagons being at the top of the plane would 
descend while the train was ascending. When the train reached 
the bottom of the plane horses were attached and it was i)ulle(l to 
the station on the bank of the great basin of the Erie canal. This 
basin was located somewhere near, and probably on the site ot. 
Peckham & W^olf's lumber yard and the Mica Insulating Works 
on Dock street. This great basin was where the canal boats 
loaded and unloaded from and into the freight wagons of the 
Mohawk & Hudson and the Saratoga railroads and later the 
ITica railroad. The freight depot was an immense aflfair. one- 
half of it belonged to the M. & H. R. R. and was valued at 
$18,275. The cable used on the Schenectady plane cost $933 •- tbe 
other in Albany, being longer, cost $1,301. 

The companv owned nine buildings contaimng tlurteen 
tenements, at the' top an.l bottom of the i)lane in Schenecta.ly. 



t54 Old Schciicclady. 

which were occupied by the superintendent and the working men. 
They were vahied at $ii,ooo. The company also owned lots 
adjoining the basin worth $10,000 and on tlie north side of the 
canal worth, $2,000. The basin cost $18,113. 

There was an odd confusion in the minds of the management 
in regard to whether second class passengers were freight or 
simply human beings. In calling the attention of the stock- 
holders to the fact, "that the expenses of transporting freight 
liave absorbed nearly the whole of the income derived from that 
source, not including second class passengers, which we con- 
ceive do not strictly belong to freight." This lack of profits from 
freight is explained by the fact that the Erie Canal, owned by 
the State, was a powerful opponent, and that in order to com- 
pete with it, freight charges had to be reduced to those charged 
by the canal. The profits from freight in 1833 were $2,679.01 ; 
in 1839, but $455.10. Again is the uncertainty in regard to 
second class passengers displayed by the statement that : "* * * 
freight received from and delivered to the Saratoga Railroad, 
yielded an income to this company in 1838, of $7,122.73, exclusive 
of sec':)nd class passengers." In 1839 the company's capital was 
one million dollars and that that sum was considered vast is 
shown bv the three words l)cing italicized in the report. 



<i 



1 1 .^■ 



"■^'^S^' 



'Vr¥ 



Old Style Loc, 



Chapter X. 




GLKX-SANDERS. 

WAY up in the north of Scotland — the land of rugged, 

A romantic scenery and of rugged, grand manhood ; 

^' the land which has produced the greatest scholars and 

most courageous fighters ; the only land, in Europe, 

which can boast of having never been conquered — 

originated the Glens of Scotia. 

The father of Alexander Lindsey Glen, a Scottish 
r^' •^'^rJ Chief, intensely religious and patriotic, gave his life 
and estate to his king, Charles the First, as did so 
many of the Highland Chiefs. When he found that the price of 
his loyalty to his king was his life and property, he persuaded his 
son to flee across the North Sea to Protestant Holland, that 
refuge where the noble and simple might worship, according to 
the dictates of their consciences, instead of according to the 
dictates of one man. For a time, this son of a Highland Chief, 
remained in Holland and then sailed across the ocean to America. 
Inheriting from his Scottish ancestors indomitable will, 
sound judgment and unbounded hospitality and charity, he 
founded a family, the descendants of which were as prominent in 
the Colonial governments, and later in the State governments, as 
they were socially and charitably. 

There is every probability that Alexander Lindsey did not 
■add the name of Glen till after he was obliged to flee from Scot- 
land, the name being simply Lindsey. The greater ninnber of 
families who were forced to flee from Scotland during the 
Reformation changed their names by dropping a portion of it or 
adding to it a syllable, or in the case of such families as possessed 
them, the name of the estate was added. The Lindseys of Scot- 
land are famous. The branch of the faniilv from which the Glens 



Glcit-Saiidcrs. 157 

of Schenectady County is descended is pro1)al)ly. Sir Alexander 
Lindsey, the younger brother of Sir James Lindsey, of Crawford, 
the hero of Otterburn. 

i'>y marriage with tlie heiress of Sterhng, Sir Alexander 
lucamc possessed of large estates in Angus and Inverness, one of 
them being Glensk. This was in the last half of tlie fourteentl. 
century. 

vSir lames, the hero of ( )tterbuni, dying without an heir. 
David, the son of Sir Alexander, became the chief of the famil\- 
cind. when David married the sister of Robert III, Robert raiseci 
David to the Plarldom of Crawford, in 1398. 

While the Glens of Schenectady were not in line for the 
title, that going by primogeniture to the eldest son, and they being 
descended from a younger son, they still are of the same blood 
as the hero of C)tterl)urn. and Sir Alexander Lindsey, who married 
the sister of Roberc HI and became the Earl of Crawford. 

The fine old Colonial mansion at the end of the Dike which, 
with the bridge, joins the pretty suburl) of Scotia to the city of 
Schenectady, overlooking the Mohawk and bearing on its front 
the large hand-wrought ir(Mi letters and numerals: "A O 1713." 
is notable, for man> reasons, to every American who inherits his 
citizenship from Colonial days. 

It was built of material taken from the original mansion 
built by Alexander Lindsey Glen, the founder of the family in 
Ameriea. who was one of the original Fifteen Proprietors of 
Schenectady. This original Cden mansiou was the first house 
built upon the north l)ank of the Mohawk river for ihc entire 
135 miles of its length. Its second point of interest is that it was, 
for many generations, the place of safekeeping of Indian, Colonial 
and Revolutionary official documents and correspondence, and its 
third i)oint of interest is that it stands on the property which has 
been in the family of the original propiietor of the estate for two 
hundred and forty-six years. 

The original residence was built about \h^(). on the bank of 
river, one hundred feet sotUh of the present residence; but the 



158 Old Schenectady. 

land upon which it stood has been entirely eaten away by the 
river and nothing- of even the foundation now remains. This 
particular place was a favorite one with the Indians. On a knoll, 
a little to the east of, and midway between the sites of the two 
houses, was the spot on which they indulged in the gladsome 
pastime of burning their prisoners at the stake. 

The original proprietor, Alexander Lindsey Glen, whom the 
Hollanders called Sander Leendertse, was born near Inverness, 
Scotland, about 1610. He was a partisan in the days of Charles 
I., and was obliged to flee to Holland, where he was warmly 
received and whence he emigrated with the early Dutch settlers to 
the Colony of New Netherlands, with his wife, who was Catharine 
Dongan. Mr. Glen was a man of liberal education, obtained in 
the land of his birth, a gentleman by birth and a man of large 
fortune, by inheritance. He was very Scotch in physique and 
temper and was endowed with a degree of catholicity which made 
him notable for his broad-minded tolerance for all denominations 
of the Christian faith and for his untiring efforts for the good, 
success and safety of others. 

In 1643, Mr. Glen was agent of the Dutch West India Com- 
pany, stationed at Fort Nassau, on the Delaware, where he had 
received a grant of land. In 1646 he was granted land in New 
Amsterdam, afterward New York, and was jx^ssessed of con- 
siderable other property, consisting of houses, land and cattle at 
Graves End, on Long Island. In 1658, he left for Schenectady, 
and built the stone mansion on the north bank of the Mohawk 
and named his estate "Scotia," in memory of the land of the 
thistle, the heather and of hardy manhood. The title to the 
Scotia estate was held from 1658 to 1665, under title granted by 
the rightful and original owners, the Mohawk Indians; in the 
latter year, he obtained the patent to the property from the 
representative of the Crown. 

The flats along the river belonging to Scotia — the estate, not 
the present village — were free from timber and very fertile, for 
they had been cultivated by the Mohawk Indians for more years 



Clci! -Sander, 



»59 




/(//( in 1730. now the Residence of Mr. Jan 



than their traditions could number. The flats east of the residence 
down to a point near the i)resent Freemans bridge, were known 
as the "cornfield." and were so designated in the deed from the 
Indians to Mr. Glen. 

Mr. ("den's character appealed strongl)- to the Mohawks. 
They regarded him with respect and admiration, for, while he was 
kind and just, he was fearless — a quality which the Mohawd<s 
could understand nnich better than kindness — so whenever raids 
were made u])on the white settlers, he, his family and his property, 
were exem])t from their fenxntv. lie had also gained the admira- 
tion and even atYection of the French who held Canada, by his 
many acts of kindness toward them, when captured by the hostile 
Mohawks of the valley, who were not of the portion of the tribe 
which hafl left the Mohawk valley for Canada, after their con- 
version to the Catholic faith. 

In Mr. Glen's day, there was no Dutch Reformed Church, 



i6o Old Sdicncctady. 

nor any church nearer than Albany, but the Rev. Mr. Schatts 
went from Albany to Schenectady, once in three months, to 
administer the sacraments. This did not satisfy Mr. Glen's ideas 
of duty in the matter of attending worship, for he frequently 
made the journey to Albany, leaving his home on Saturday morn- 
ing and returning on Monday night. In 1682, in order that 
Schenectady might be better provided for, he built, at his own 
expense, the first Dutch Reformed Church in Schenectady — the 
site of which is marked by a bronze tablet at the junction of State, 
Water and Church streets and Mill lane. As was the custom in 
those days, the church was, also, the town-hall. This church was 
given to the community and, in 1684, the Rev. Petrus Tasche- 
maker became ics first pastor. Mrs. Glen died in 1684 and Mr. 
Glen, in 1685, and both were buried under the church which he 
had built. As an original proprietor, Mr. Glen had a lot in 
Schenectady of two hundred feet frontage on Washington avenue 
and this residence was occupied by a descendant till the great fire 
of 1 8 19, when it was destroyed. 

Major John Alexander Glen, the youngest son of the origi- 
nal proprietor, l)uilt the present mansion, bearing the date of 
1713. The liouse covers a large ground area and its rooms are 
large — many of them being more than twenty feet, each way. 
and the ceilings are lofty. The walls are built of stone and are 
verv thick and strong. The timbers are massive. Some idea of 
the great size of the trees, which were found by the early white 
settlers, mav be gained when it is known that the trunks of the 
trees, from which the timbers for the house were made, were 
first hewn square and then sawed twice through the middle, 
lengthwise, thus making four timbers of the log, each of which, 
was two feet square. The hewing was done because it was easier 
than sawing, when the log was of so great diameter; and the 
sawing was resorted to, because it was the only means of dividing 
the square log into timbers small enough to handle. These great 
timbers are as sound, to-day, as they were when they were built 
into the house. They are cleverly dovetailed together, as no 



Clcii-Saiiders. i6i 

builder could do it in this century, and are fastened with large 
pins of wood. All of the sj)ikes and nails in the house are hand- 
wrought. 

.\s has been said, nearly all of the original material of the 
tirst house was used for the present house and all of the interior 
wood-work was used, as far as it would go. This interior finish 
is very interesting, in that it sho\\ s the nicety of the work and the 
skill of the workmen. P'verv joint is either mortised or dove- 
tailed, and all the fastenings are wooden pins. The doors are 
very wide and their broad panels are made of one piece of first- 
growth pine, of a quality which would give a lumber-merchant, of 
to-day, an attack of heart-failure, from thinking of the price that 
he could obtain for it. 

Major Glen, like his predecessors, was a man who never 
missed an opportunity to save a white captive from the cruel 
hands of the Mohawks. It made no difference to him wdiether 
the victim for the Inn-ning was Protestant or Catholic. This 
gained for him and his wife — she w^as a veritable "Mother in 
Israel," honored and loved by White and Red — the profound 
regard of the French in Canada, whom the Mohawks of the valley 
dearly loved to capture and torture, as a means of revenge for 
having led away a portion of their tribe. 

The Jesuit priests were untiring workers among the Indians 
for their conversion. Their patience and never-waning courage, 
imder the most cruel torture, finally won the ]x)rtion of the tribe 
of the IMohawks, whose headquarters were at the third castle of the 
Five Xations, called Caughnawaga. They embraced the Catholic 
faith and went to Canada with the Jesuit Fathers, settling near 
Montreal. This greatly angered the Mohawks who remained in 
the vallev. They i)r()fessed to favor Protestantism, not from 
religious conviction, but because it was the faith of the Dutch 
with whom they were friendly. Their reason for being friendly 
with the Dutch was entirely selfish at first. The Dutch could 
cater to their appetite for rum, but, most important of all. was 
the fact, that from them, thev, the Indians, could obtain the more 



i62 Old Schenectady. 

destructive weapons and ammunition and wipe out a humiliating- 
defeat by the Hurons and Algonquins. soon after Champlain's 
settlement in 1608. That they, the irrisistible ones, whose 
presence in twos and threes inspired terror among the Indians 
of New England and the south, had been defeated and forced to 
flee from the Canadian Indians, whom they held in contempt, was 
more than they could bear. Since the Dutch could provide them 
with muskets and ammunition, they loved the Dutch. This defeat 
by the despised Indians of the tribes named, was due to the fire- 
arms furnished them by the French.. 

One day a party of Mohawks brought as a prisoner, a Jesuit 
priest, to the home of Major Glen, wliere thev intended to torture 
him, on the knoll previously mentioned as the torture-ground. 
They asked Major Glen to lock the priest in his cellar till the 
morning, when the deviltry would begiri. 

Major Glen and his wife determined to save the ])riest, but 
they realizetl that it nmst be done without ofl:'ending the Indians, 
otherwise, they would lose their influence with them. He pre- 
tended to fear the priest, sa\ing that the\' all were possessed of 
magical ])owers and coidd not be confined by any lock. He told 
the Indians that they could lock him in the cellar, but that he 
would have nothing to do with it ; so he gave them one key to the 
cellar and said nothing of the other, which he had. The Indians, 
profiting by the trade instincts of their Dutch friends, bought 
rum in Schenectady and drank themselves into insensibility. 

Major Glen had remarked in the hearing of the Indians that 
he should send a wagon to Albany in the morning, for salt ; so, 
when the morning came and the Indians, who were suft'ering from 
an attack of, "after the ball," saw a wagon, in which was a large 
cask, start for .Albanx, their suspicions weie not aroused. Had 
they known that the cask, with but one head, was covering the 
priest, they might have claimed a substitute from the Glen family. 
When they did go to him with a report that the priest was gone; 
they were reminded that they had been told that a i)riest could not 
be ke])t b\- any lock ; that be had used his magic to esca])e through 



Glcn-Sandcrs. 163 

the kcv-liole. This, and siniihir acts, trained the ,y"()(jd-\vill and 
esteem of the French — the more so, as tlie Glens were known to 
he staunch Protestants — and bore fruit of a most acceptable 
variety ; for, when the French and Indian raid was made, which 
resulted in the historical massacre of 1690, orders were given, by 
the French commanders, that no injury must be done to the Glens, 
their relatives nor their property. Not only were these orders 
strictly adhered to, but Major Glen was permitted to point out 
relatives in Schenectady, who were spared, until so many had 
been pointed out, that the Indians became suspicious that even 
a white man could not have so many relatives, and so the merciful 
work was stopped. 

Col. Jacob Glen, the eighth child of Major Glen, inherited 
the Scotia estate from his father, as well as all the admirable 
qualities of the family. He was born in 1690 and died in 1762. 
Colonel Glen was commander of the military forces west of 
Albany, numbering- 3.000 men. 

It was during his proprietorship that the Scotia mansion 
l)egan to be the receptacle of public documents, for their safe- 
keeping. This f)ld mansion contained the military records of the 
Colony, with a complete list of the men doing military duty ; old 
Dutch and IJritish grants, patents, and commissions, among them 
l)eing those which bore the signature of every governor from and 
including Governor Dongan ; and later, all the public documents 
and letters of Sir William Johnson, who was Indian Commis- 
sioner for the entire British possessions in America. Among 
these, were treaties signed by the totem and other marks of Indian 
chiefs of many tribes and the signatures of the governors of 
nearly every Colony. This valuable collection also contained pub- 
lic documents of the Revolutionary days, and letters, commissions, 
private diaries, kept by the officers, and the minutes of the Sons 
of Liberty. 

Soon after the breaking out of the Civil War, when paper 
was in unusual demand, about a ton of these old papers were sold, 
as junk, their historic value not being appreciated. Fortunately, 



Clcii-Saiiilcrs. 165 

few of the very old Dutch and British papers were inchided in 
tliis lot, so that a large collection remained in the possession of 
the family, till 1903, when all that did not relate to the Glen- 
Sanders famiHes and those witii whom they had intcr-married. 
were sold hy the present owner of the property. 

The present proprietor, Air. C. P. Sanders, decided upon this 
course, for several reasons. One was that the documents had to 
do with so many of the old Dutch and Anglo-Saxon families, that 
he was receiving requests from all over the country from persons 
who were, or hoped they were, descendants of the early settlers, 
asking' him to look the matter up. This was a nuisance ; and, 
l)esides. the collection being of public interest, he felt it should be 
placed where it could be cared for and be open to inspection by 
those who wished to inspect it. In addition to this, many persons 
came to Scotia to see the famous old mansion, and he frequently 
found that, after these visitations, some of the papers would be 
missing. As the State was the proper custodian of these docu- 
ments of Colonial and Revolutionary days, they were first ofifered 
to the State Library in Albany, but as there was no money 
availa])le. the library could not secure them. They were then 
offered to the city of Schenectady, through some of its citizens, 
who professed to be interested in it and its history and who con- 
sidered themselves public-spirited men ; but the idea was treated 
hghth, until they were finally disposed of to an antiquarian of 
Albauv, when the fact that they were gone forever, emphasized 
the seriousness of the loss. As a matter of fact, this collection of 
old records and documents, relating to families and official affairs 
)f the Colony and State, should be the 
tl)erty of Schenectady and the histori- 
cal-room of the free 
rul)lic Library should 
l)e their ])lace of safe- 
l<ee])ing. 

To return to Colo- 
nel Cdcn ; his only 
child was a daughter. 




1 66 



Old Schenectady. 



Deborah, who was married to John Sanders, of Albany, in 1739. 
It was through this marriage that the Sanders name became con- 
nected with the Glen estate of Scotia. Mr. Sanders, who was a 
man of great wealth for even these days, purchased the entire 
estate in 1765, for $10,000, which, in those days, was a very large 
amount of money. 

Strangely enough, the Sanders family, like the Glen family, 
was Dutch, by adoption, members of it having fled to Holland at 
about the same time that the Glens did, and for the same reason, 
because of their fearless opposition to the corruption of the British 
representatives of the Roman Church. This ancestor, whose 
family was forced to flee to Holland, was burned at the stake, in 
Coventry, by the gentlemen of England who dishonored their 
country and polluted the name of the Roman Church, solely to 
gain their own selfish ends, as represented either by money, pre- 
ferment or power. 



\ov Svnwows \\viv Prcaclu'ii 

oi tilt- DocUiiJCS oi'lheRelbi 

( finirh ofKrioiand fiorn ^ ' 

•' - < Iniifij of Ronu'.Sulloi <• 

}rar of(h(tr/.' Mfii < '. 



oiioiU 



Chur,h. London 



(ilcii-Saitdcrs. 167 

Th- taltirt in lln' wall df tiir cliurrii in London of which this 
iKTo-niarl) r. ilic frinid and companion, in prison, of the |L;rcat 
rrannicr, was rccl(tr. hears the following;' record: "In Alcniorv 
of the Rev. .Mr. Lawrence Saunders. M. A., Rector of Allhallows. 
r)read street, who, for sermons here preached, in defence of the 
doctrines of the Reformation of the Church of England from 
ye corruptions of the Church of Rome, suffered Martyrdom ye 
third year of Queen Alarw being burnt at Coventr\-, Feb'v ve S. 

^555- 

Lawrence Sanders — or Saunders, as the original spelling- 
was — was born in Oxfordshire, where his father was a con- 
siderable land-owner. Young Lawrence was sent to Eaton, and. 
after finishing there, to King's College, Cambridge. After a 
wdiile, he thought he would like to become a merchant ; so he was 
sent to London and articled to one of the great merchants, who, 
afterward, became Sherifif of London. The youth soon became 
disgusted with business and all that had to do wdth it. He told 
his patron of his feelings, and he released him from his obliga- 
tions, so Lawrence returned to King's College and took his de- 
gree. He entered holy orders toward the end of the reign f)f 
Edward \"1. and became one of the famous preachers of the 
period wdien the Reformation began. While fearless in denounc- 
ing the corruption of the men who i)rofessed to represent the 
])ure principles of the ancier.t Christian Church, he was not of 
that class of preachers who disgust the thoughtful by violence and 
religious hysteria. 

As one of the chief cham])ions of reformation, with Cranmer 
and the other heroic men. who bore the agonies of hre. rather than 
do what they believed to be wrong. Lawrence Saunders was 
summoned before the ecclesiastical and crowm-authorities. on 
trumped-up and ridiculous charges. When it w^as found that he 
fearlessly continued his work and preached for reformation, he 
was imprisoned and was linall\ burnt, in Coventry. The widow 
and her two sons escaped to Holland. Ninety years after, another 
widow, Elsie Saunders, and her two sons, Robert and b>hn, came 



1 68 



Old Schenectady. 



to New Amsterdam, about 1646. It was the son, John, who 
married Deborah, the daughter of Colonel Glen. 

The brothers went to Albany and started, by trading with 
the Indians, from whom they bought pelts. These were shipped 
to Europe and, in return, were brought back from across the 
water, the goods which were needed, or which were luxuries in 
the colony. Their business grew to immense proportions and, 
before long, their shipments went to nearly all the great capitals 
of the world, especially to the Indies. 

John, son of John and Deborah Sanders, lived in the Scotia 
mansion — his father and mother having moved to the town resi- 
dence on Washington avenue. The Indians had always been 

free guests at the 
homes in the Mo- 
hawk valley, and 
especially was this 
true in regard to 
the home of the 
Glens and San- 
ders. About the 
time the War 
of Independence 
began, the Oneida 
Indians were par- 
ticulafrly-frequent 
visitors in and 
about the Scotia 
estate, and this 
fact nearly caused 
the death of 
young Mrs. San- 
ders, when two 
Oneida warriors 
engaged in a seri- 
ous quarrel in the 




Gloi-Sandcrs. 169 

kitclicn. Finally, one of the two tried lo l)rain the other 
with his tomahawk. The attacked one tied out antl around to tlie 
front of the house and inside the door, lieliind this door was — 
and still is — a large, shallow coat-closet. The fleeing Indian 
hid in this closet, just as his pursuer reached the front of the 
house and just as Mrs. Sanders was going up-stairs. The pur- 
suing Indian, seeing some one on the stairs, and thinking it was 
the other Indian, threw his tomahawk, which was somewhat wide 
of its mark, and struck the baluster-rail, cutting out a chunk 
which is still plainly to be seen, and is a daily reminder, to the 
present generation, of the conditions in which their ancestors 
lived. 

In those early days, the freighting in the winter, when the 
ice on the river closed navigation, was done on sleds drawn by 
horses, between Alban}- and Utica. The number of these sleds 
ran into scores, daily passing to and from Albany. 

One day Mr. Sanders — the second John, whose wife escaped 
the tomahawk — while out driving, met a long line of sleds. He 
turned out of the beaten track, to let the heavily-loaded sleds pass. 
Toward the end of the line was a tlriver, who was a great bully 
and, at the same time, a coward. As he passed Air. Sanders, he 
struck him a heavy l)low across the shoulder with the long lash 
of his whip. When the line passed, Mr. Sanders turned and 
followed it, till it stopped at the first tavern. He entered the bar- 
room with the crowd and, gaining their attention, told them that 
one of their number had committed an unprovoked assault upon 
him — a peaceful citizen, on the highway — a condition of affairs 
which could not be ])ermitted. He demanded that the guilty man 
be pointed out to him. No one responded, so Mr. Sanders said: 

"I am a magistrate of this district; one of you has com- 
mitted an assault upon the highway, and if he is not delivered up 
to me, I shall commit you all. Mr. Sanders was well known to 
the majority of the drivers and the reinitation of himself and his 
family for doing just what tliey said they would do, resulted in 
the offender being persuaded to step out and confess. Mr. 



170 Old Scliciicctady. 

vSauders looked at the bully calmly, told him that such doins^s 
could not and would not be permitted within his jurisdiction; 
that he purposed to have all travelers on the highway, within his 
jurisdiction, safe from bullies and brutes. 

"Now," said he. "you may have your choice of being tried, 
right here, or of taking a thrashing at my hands. This kind of 
sport must be stopped." 

The driver thought a moment ; recalled the load of freight 
which could not be delivered, should he be placed in "goal" and, 
riot knowing Mr. Sanders nor his reputation for great strength, 
he chose the thrashing. Tradition says that he got it ; so warm 
and heartily did the justice lay it on, that the fame of it traveled 
far, and, from that time on. wlicn would-be tough drivers had to 
pass through Mr. Sanders' judicial territory, they metaphorically, 
wore their Sunday-clothes and a high-church expression of 
countenance. 

Nearly all of the okl Dutch families of Colonial days married 
into the Glen and Sanders families ; so that, to-day, the Living- 
stons, V^an Rensselaers, Ten liroecks, Douws, Fondas, P>cek- 
manns, Schuylers, Ten Eycks, Van Dycks, can trace descent from 
Alexander Lindsey Cden, one of the original proprietors of 
Schenectadv, and the founder of the family in America. 




Chapter XI. 




JAMES DUANE 

ilE Schenectady Count}' family having- more to du 
ril with tlie making of the Nation, than any other, was 
that of Duane. What the Glens had been to the 
Colony, the Duanes were to the birth of the Nation 
and the reorganized State of New York. 
The first of the name in America wa.s Anthony Uuanc, 
a young man of gentle birth from Cong. County Oal- 
way, Ireland. When little more than a youth. Anthony 
Duane was purser in the liritish Navy, with the 
squadron stationed at New York. He was so well pleased with 
the New World Colony and the society of New York, as well as 
with its opportunities for business, that he resigned from the 
Navy and settled in New York where he was a merchant up to 
the time of his death. Anthony Duane's second wife — the mother 
of the Schenectady Duanes— was Miss Altea Kettletas, a daughter 
of Abraham Kettletas. for many years an alderman of New York 
and one of its wealthiest merchants. She died in May. 1741. Mr. 
Duane married again, his third wife being the widow of Thomas 
I.vncli. of I'lushing. Long Island. Her maiden name was R\\<vy. 
Antlionx- Duane died in August. 1774. in his home in Xew \nvk. 
Tin- children of Anthony and Allea Duane were: Kichard. who 
died, while a midshipman in the Royal Navy, at Kingston. Jamaica, 
in 1740; Abraham, a post ca])tain in the Royal Navy, who died 
at sea in 1767; and James, with whom there is the greatest 
interest as he was the proprietor of Duanesburg. in Schenectady 
County. 

James Duane was born in New York City, on Februarv 6. 
173J. After completing his school days he continued his educa- 
tion bv studving for the profession in which he became the head 



1^^ 



Old Schenectadv. 



in middle life and continued to grow in repute and fame till his 
death. He entered the law office of James Alexander, one of the 
Colony's most notable attorneys, and was admitted to practice in 
August, 1754. His biographer said of him: "His law register 

and papers show he was 
soon entrusted with a 
large professional busi- 
ness and that he retained 
his clients so long as he 
continued a practicing 
lawyer." Two years after 
his admission he was 
given a warrant, by 
Attorney General Wil- 
liam Kemp, to act for 
him in crown cases. Mr. 
Duane's ideas and ambi- 
tion were beyond official 
l)atronagc, so in April, 
1757, he resigned, to de- 
vote all his time to pri- 

Judge James Duane. vatC ])raCtice. 

He married Mary, the eldest daughter of Colonel Robert 
Livingston, of Livingston Manor, on October 21. 1759. This 
alliance gave him an intimate acquaintance with the chief subject 
of interest at that time. viz. : the boundaries of the Colony, a 
subject fre([uently in litigation and of almost daily discussion. 
Sometime before his marriage he had been active in respect to 
the boundary between New York and Massachusetts and his 
marriage increased his interest in the subject, because a consider- 
able ])orti()n of Livingston Manor was claimed by Massachusetts. 
Thus, he became an authority on the subject of jurisdiction and 
territorial rights. He was for years always the attorney, ccnmcil 
or commissioner in private and public cases, for the Colony and 
later for the v^tate of New York, against claimants in New Jersey, 




James Duanc. 173 

Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the famous fights over the New 
Hampshire grants, also the French grants in the Champlain 
valley. His "State of the Rights of New York" was taken from 
a letter from himself to Edmond Burke, by order of the Board of 
Trade and published, as being an epitome of the subject. His 
calm judgment and wisdom did much to off-set the influence of 
the other New England States against New York, in the fight 
over the New Hampshire grants, which was thrashed out in 
Congress during the Revolution. He also succeeded in restrain- 
ing New York from resorting to violence v/hen the irritating 
conditions made violence seem the only method for vindication. 

Some of the cases in which he was retained, that were of 
general interest, on account of the princi])le involved, were: 
Trinity Church against Flandreau and others ; Sir James Jay 
against King's College ; the very important case, to Schenectady, 
of Schermerhorn against the Trustees of Schenectady ; the King, 
on the information of the Attorney General against Lieutenant- 
Governor Colden. Mr. Duane was attorney for the defendent. 
Colden, and it required real courage of the highest moral type 
for, while the King was the technical. Governor Monkton was 
the actual plaintiff and, as Chancellor, he was also the judge. 
Other lawyers had refused to take the case for fear of Monkton's 
enmity. Strangely enough not long after this suit. Mr. Duane 
was called upon to give an opinion against his former client, 
Lieutenant-Governor Colden. It was in a suit in which Colden. 
representing the Government, had given a construction of his 
commission and instructions, which were reversed by the opinion 
given by Mr. Duane. To again quote his biograi)her : "In both 
cases we see that fearlessness of governmental authority, which, 
a few years later, led him to risk his life and estate in our War 
for Independence." 

As a Churchman, Mr. Duane was as active as he was in the 
practice of law and in the making of the Nation. He was a 
vestryman of old Trinity Church in New York for a number 
of vears before the Revolution and after the British left New 



174 



Old Schcneclady. 



York in 1783, till he left the city to reside upon his estate of 
Duanesburg, in 1794, he was church warden of Trinity. He built 
at his own expense the Episcopal Church on his Duanesburg 
property, which was consecrated by Bishop Provost, formerly 
rector of Trinity Church. This church, which is still the parish 




Episcopal Church, Duanesburg. "Built by Judge Dua 



church, is the only church building- in Schenectady County which 
has in no way been altered since the day it was built. Although 
the building is not as old as is St. George's in Schenectady city, 
the parish is considerably older and the building was consecrated 
sixty-six years before St. George's, the consecration of the latter 
being in 1859. Mr. Duane and his wife are l)uried under the 
church which he built and gave to the Diocese. 

As a landlord, Mr. Duane had vast possessions. In 1767 he 
owned sixtv-four thousand acres in that part of the Colony of 



James Dnane. ^75 

N,„- V„rk wind, lata- became a pan "f Hu- State of Vermont. 
This pr.,pertv was obtained by purchase. n,.t by Rrant and when 
that part of New York was resisne.l to \ ermottt be was awanle, 
but $30,000 for the entire property and that was not pa,d tdl 
after bis death. .\ part of his inheritance front h,s lather was 
s,x tbonsaiHl acres of lau.l ut Schenectady Couuty. fhts was 
eventually increased to what ,s now the Town of Dnauesbttrg, a., 
area of sixtv tbousan.l acres, lu ,765 he began to arrange for the 
settlement of this vast estate, located iu the utost ,,ict„resc|ue and 
lovely part of the county, antong the hills wbtch -«".-. u.o 
the Helderberg moutitains and terminate .n the Catsk.Us. .\t this 
time the people of the Colony were averse to settling m tlus par, 
of the Colonv. chieflv ou account of the represeutattons of the 
a<.ents of Si; Willian, Johnson, who were effecting settlements 
f,; hint elsewhere and wishe.l to secure all the available settlers 
for his propertv. so Mr. Duane secured si.xteeu Pennsylvau.a 
Germans who nta.le the first permaneut settleuteut ou XW es ate^ 
The estate was made a townshi,. on March ,3. '765- The laud 
.vas surveved into farnts of one hundrcl acres atrd apport.oned to 
the settler's on <,uit rent .leeds-oue of which is shown ou the ob 
lowing page, at first wtth rents payable ui products ot the o,l and 
later at tl,: rate of fifteen cents per acre. M. idea of Mr. )uaue s 
keen sense of right aud justice trray be obtained frou, the tact 1 
l,e never sold an intproved farm to any person other tbau the uuu 
who made the improvements. 

These earlv settlers of Duauesburg found theu.selves on h. Us 
from eight to 'fifteen hundred feet elevation, well watere.l by 
springs and brooks au<l covered by a virgin forest of p.ues an<l 
hardwoods of great size, in which roamed bears, wo ves and 1 c 
areadcl Ivux. When the work of cleartug was well along. Ik 
.oil was found ,0 be fertile and the surface of a pecul.ar characte.^ 
, ,„ .„, ntain hills were lower elevations from fifty to one hundred 
feet above the general level, "hog-backed u, shape, w,th 1 
tops alntost level or a gentle, sloptug gra.le to the -ows wh n 
thcv fell awav sharpie. These -hog-backs run at evety cou- 



176 



Old Schenectady. 



ceivable angle to one another, thus forming charming Httle valleys 
and dales through which flowed tiny streams of spring water. It 
was on the tops of several of the highest of these little hills that 

Mr. Duane and 
his heirs built 
their fine old Co- 
lonial Mansions. 
That the white 
man was not 
the discoverer of 
their charms, 
nor of the grand 
scenery. is shown 
by evidence of 
Indian encamp- 
ments of some- 
what permanent 
nature, for ar- 
rowheads a n d 
other Indian im- 
plements are fre- 
quently found, 
some of the ar- 
row and spear 
heads exhibiting 
most beautiful 
workmanship. 

In i/gO judge Duane began the erection of his mansion on 
the to]) of the highest of the Duanesburg hills, but it was finished 
bv his heirs as his death occurred suddenly from heart trouble, in 
February, 1797. 15esides the great estates in X'ermont and 
Duanesburg, he owned valuable property in New York City, con- 
sisting of houses and what he called his farm, a portion of which 
is now Gramercy Park, and a house in Schenectady where his 
family lived during many of the years in which he was devoting 
himself to his country, while the War for Independence was in 
progress. 




James Dnaiie. lyy 

This brink's U]) llic cliaractcr in which jiulgc Duanc was 
greatest ; that of a disinterested patriot ; friend of W^ashins^ton ; 
and legal advisor to the young- Nation. 

Again to quote his biographer: "Wiien faithful and skilful 
agents were sought for in 1774. to devise means to regain those 
rights which England had grossly infringed, and secure them 
from future violation, Mr. Duane was naturally one of the earliest 
selected. He was a member of most of the committees in the 
City of Xew York, raised to devise plans of opposing the British 
encroachments, and when the general Congress of 1774 was 
determined upon and the Colonial Assembly had refused to 
aj^point any delegate to act. Air. Duane was elected by the people, 
not only of that city, but of several counties. ■■'- * ''' The 
Alassachusetts members of Congress started early from their 
homes and arrived at New York before Mr. Duane and his 
colleagues had set out. * '■' * in the journal of John Adams it 
is apparent that Mr. Duane was the most prominent man in the 
Xew York delegation." 

When he left his home in Xew York, on August 31, 1774. to 
go to the Congress in Philadelphia, he was accompanied by a 
great number of people, who with music and flags were going to 
the Broad street ferry to see him ofif. Before leaving" them, he 
addressed them and it does not require a vivid imagination to 
picture the event in the mind nor to guess at the subject upon 
which he si)oke. He was leaving the city of his birth and the people 
who held liim in such high esteem and who reposed such faith in 
him. that they had chosen him to represent them, in the stej) to be 
taken by the Colonists which would result in death and oblivion, or 
in obtaining a recognition of their rights by the King. Tn 1774 the 
idea of total separation from the Old CcxuUry was in the minds 
of few, if any, of the Colonists. He arrived in Philadelphia on 
the day set for the meeting of the Congress, September 5, and 
almost his first act showed his keen sense of the respect and 
courtesy due to others. The State House and Carpenter's Hall 
liad been offered to the delegates, The latter was first inspected 



1/8 Old Schcncciady. 

and a motion to accept that hall was offered by one of the delegates, 
but Mr. Duane objected to this until the courtesy of first inspect- 
ing the State House had been paid to the Speaker of the Assembly, 
through whom the offer of that building had been made. That 
which took place on tliat momentous occasion is a matter of 
Xational history, the part taken l^y Mr. Duane only, concerns this 
account. 

Mr. Duane was appointed, with Mr. Jay, as the New York 
representative to the committee "On the Rights of the Colonies." 
This committee met daily from the seventh to the twenty-second 
of September and reported on the latter date, the Xew York dele- 
gation favoring a demand for the rights of the Colonies without 
total separation for Great Britain. Mr. Duane's preamble and 
resolutions were submitted and adopted in spirit, or in the actual 
wording, by the Congress. It is an interesting fact that the plan 
written by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 for united colonies, is in 
the possessions of the descendants of Mr. Duane. 

Congress adjourned in (Jctober, 1774, to meet in May, 1775. 
Mr. Duane returned to his home, having paid all of his expenses 
connected with the Congress from his own pocket. In addition, 
he wa,=; a liberal contributor to tlic fimd f(^r the relief of the ]:)eople 
of Boston and to all of the patriotic public celebrations and enter- 
tainments given in Xew "S'ork in 1774-75. 

In April, 1775. he was elected a delegate to the Provincial 
Congress which met in Xew York on the twentieth and was 
elected by this Congress to the more important one to meet in 
Philadelphia in Mav. .\fter ai)i)ointing Washington commander- 
in-chief of the army it had authorized the raising of; and assum- 
ing all the i)owers of gi ivernment. Congress adjourne<l t'rom 
.\ugust 2 to Se])tem])er 5 and Mr. Duane went to All)an\ to 1)c 
])resent at an Indian treaty. ( )n this occasion he presented the 
renowned Mohawk, Chief Abraham, with a handsome tobacco 
box of silver and an item in hi^ private e.\])ense book shows that 
is was i)aid for it. He returned to Congress on September 12, 
and being called bv his native state to assist in framing a state 



JaiiiL's Diianc. 179 

government, lie sacrificed his personal desires and ainl)ilii)n to be 
one of those to be present ni Carjienters' Hall on July 4, 1776, by 
leaving Philadelphia on May 31. 1776 for Xew York City. But 
for his strong sense of duty to his State, he would have been in 
Philadelphia on the day the Independence of the Colonies was 
declared and Schenectady would have had the honor of the name 
of one of its citizens being signed to the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. 

Mr. Duane took his seat in the Provincial Congress on June 
2 and four days later obtained leave of absence to secure a home 
for his family. He did not return to Xew York till the autumn 
of 1783, when peace was declared, the British taking the city 
soon after he left. In April, 1777, he returned to the Congress 
in Philadelphia antl remained there till December of that year 
when iie joined his family at Livingston Manor. In the mean- 
time, on May 13, 1777, the Provincial Congress gave him a vote 
of thanks for his long and faithful service. In that same year he 
was one of a committee of three to arrange the articles of con- 
federation, already agreed to by Congress, and to alter its phrase- 
ology without changing its spirit. In 1778 Governor Clinton was 
asked to appoint a commissioner of Indian affairs tor the Xorthern 
Department. The Governor gave the appointment to Mr. Duane 
on April 2, 1778. In the summer of that year he was seriously ill, 
and although not yet recovered in strenglli. he returned to his 
congressional duties in Phila(le]i)hia in Xoveml)er. as he had been 
reap])oinle(l in the ( )ctol)er preceding. 1 le remained in attendance 
at Congress till September, I77(). when he obtained leave of 
absence to visit his famil\-. In the succeeding ( )ctober he was 
appointed one of a committee of three to collect evidence ni the 
matter of the boundary between Xew York and \ermont, and in 
the succeeding Xovember. be was reai)i)ointed to Congress and 
remained tliere till the winter of 1780, when be left to attend to 
the bonndary dispute. In 1781 Mr. Duane was twice the guest 
of General Washington at Morristown. In January, 1782, he 
attended the meeting of the Legislature in .\lbany and took his 



i8o Old Schenectady. 

seat as senator, after which he returned to Congress. In November, 
1783, after ten years of faithful service, he retired from his con- 
gressional duties. He was the only New York delegate to serve 
continuously in Congress from its first meeting in 1774, till the 
close of the Revolution. Mr. Duane was the author of the resolu- 
tions of thanks to the army, adopted by Congress, which had 
fought for and obtained the Independence of the Colonies. 

In the autumn of 1783 he was elected by the Legislature one 
of the Conned for the Southern District of New York and on 
November 25 of that year, when he, with the other patriots, re- 
turned to New York city, he found the greater portion of his 
])roperty in a sad state. His houses on Pine street — then called 
King street — and the house at the corner of Fly Market and 
Water street were not habitable. That portion of New York 
known as Gramercy Park was owned by Mr. Duane and the 
twenty acres of wdiich it was a ]3ortion, he called his farm. This 
property and the house upon it was in good condition as it had 
been used by one of the British generals as his residence. It was 
at this time that his election as church warden of Trinity, already 
referred to, took place. 

There is a tradition in King's book, "The Progress of New 
York During the Last Fifty Years," that a winding creek flowing 
through the Duane farm, called bv the Dutch, "Crummassie-\ny,"' 
was corrupted by the successors of the Dutch into Gramercy and 
that the name was made a fixture by S. P>. Ruggles, who, having 
])urchased a portion of the Duane farm, dedicated to the public 
the sixty-six lots, now comprising the park, in 183 1, giving it the 
name of Gramercy Park. There was but one i)rovision attached 
to the gift, viz. : that ten dollars a lot should be paid annually 
forever, for the maintenance for the park. Ti is also of interest, 
that King speaks of the value of these sixty-six lots, as being two 
hundred thousand dollars. 

After the war the residents of New York began to resume 
their commercial and professional occupations which had 
been interrupted for i-o many years. To do this was Mr. Duane's 



James Duane. i8i 

intention, but those who knew him had other phins for him and 
for tlieir g^ood. In those days to be mayor of New York was a 
h\cr\\ lionor, for the man w^as chosen for his worth and integrity. 
Tlie Common Council of the city petitioned the Governor to 
a'ppoint Mr. Duane. The jietition was granted and he was 
api)ointed on h'ebruary 5. 17S4. The reason given in the petition 
for his selection was : "That no one is better qualified, so none will 
lie more acceptable to us and our constituents at large than Mr. 
Duane. Few have sacrificed more or deserve better from their 
country." This was a busy ol^ce in those days, for the mayor 
presided over the city, civil and criminal courts and was in the 
commission of Oyer and Terminer for the county. By request of 
judge Hobart of the Supreme Court, Mr. Duane. as judge of 
( )ver and Terminer, delivered the charge to the first Grand Jury 
summoned in that court after the war. Mr. Duane was mayor 
for six years: with the exception of two years he was State 
Senator, from 1783 to "90, when his a])pointnient to a Federal 
office made longer service impossible. 

The appointment to this Federal office was the highest honor 
he had yet received, for, while the judgeship of the United States 
District Court is an important and dignified office, the fact that 
Mr. Duane was chosen by President Washington personally, from 
all the many sj^lendid men who were available, for the reason 
•dven bv Washington : * * '•'- "I have endeavored to bring into 
high offices of its administration such characters as will give 
stability and dignity to our National Government," was the 
greatest honor of all. That Mr. Duane fully appreciated the 
honor of being chosen by Washington for this high office; that it 
was an entire surprise to him and gave him tlie greater delight on 
this account, is shown by the following extract from a letter to 
his wife : 

••j received a message that Col. Hamilton wished to speak 
with me. lie asked me to walk in to a private room and there, to 
mv surprise, informed me that he was sent by the President to 
know whetlier 1 would accept the office of District judge of the 



t82 Old Schenectady. 

United States. I told him that 1 had never soheited. expected or 
even wished for an office from the President. On enqniry from 
Colonel Hamilton these were the circumstances of the affair: 
Very great interest had been made for Chief Justice Morris and 
for Mr. Harrison. When the point was to be decided, Colonel 
Hamilton and Mr. Jay were present. The President observed that 
he conceived a more responsible appointment than either and 
named me. Hamilton and Jay declared themselves of the same 
opinion. I have received an invitation to dine with the President 
to-morrow and shall then receive my commission, which I owe 
solely to his regard and good opinion of me." 

For five years Judge Duane continued as judge of this court, 
many of the most important cases, involving international ques- 
tions, coming before him. Finally, after forty years of strenuous 
labor in the interest of his country and state, on March lo, 1794, 
Judge Duane resigned as Judge of the United States Court, and 
as church warden of Trinity. The vestry adopted resolutions 
expressing their feelings for him and their regret at losing him. 
This was sent to him by Bishop Provost, in a personal letter, in 
which the P)ishop expressed his feelings in the matter. Judge 
Duane went to Schenectady in a few days to remain there till the 
mansion he intended to erect on his Duanesburg estate should be 
completed, but his death occurred before the house was ready for 
occupancy. 

As an unselfish patriot, he was regarded by Washington 
with confidence, affection and admiration and as a statesman lie 
was honored by Washington and the other great men of that day. 
As a Churchman, he was one of the most active in uniting all the 
members of the Episcopal Church under one constitution and in 
obtaining the consecration of the first American Bishop. While 
he was a staunch Churchman, he was at the same time one of the 
champions of religious liberty. He was a generous giver to all 
juiblic and private charities. A striking instance was shown of 
this characteristic as well as of his wisdom, when appointed Mayor 
of New York. The city was in a delapidated condition and its 



James Duaiic. 183 

people were in distress from the efil'ects of liritisli occupancy, so, 
instead of g'i\in^ the cusloniary entertainment when entering- 
upon the (hities of mayor, he sent a note to the Coniiuon C'ouncil 
saying-: '■' * '■■■ "\\\\{ wlien I retlect u];on the want and (hstress 
which are so ])revalent at this season, I tlatler myself that my 
declining- it (the entertainment) will he justified 1)\- \-our ap])rol)a- 
tion. Rather permit me, gentlemen, to entreat yon to take the 
trouhle of distrihuting for me, twenty guineas, toward the relief 
of my suffering fellow citizens in your respective wards. Wx 
liherality on so laudahle an occasion, is limited hy the shock which 
has aiTected my private fortttnes in the progress of the war.*' 
Mayor Duane's suggestion that the clergy of the city should 
l)reach .charity sermons and take up collections for the distressed, 
was carried out and the .Mayor and Common Council attended 
the Dutch Church, presided over hv the Rev. Dr. Livingston, for 
the purpose of stimulating the liberality of others by their 
presence. Jtidge Duane was an honorar\- member and on the 
committee of corres])ondence of the Order of Cincinnati. He 
was survived by his son, James C. : his elder daughter, Mary, who 
married Gen'l W'illiani Xc-rth, and his younger daughter. Sarah, 
who married George W. Featherstonhaugh. The oil portrait in 
the City Hall, Xew York, is a copy of the one done by Peal at 
the close of the Revolution. 




chanter XI I. 




FEATHERSTONHAUGH. 
HE family of Featherstonhaugh is older than the 

TL'nited Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, for 
it is a Saxon family of the feudal days, away hack on 
the borders of dream-time. 

At the time of the Xorman Conquest, the feudal castle 
and estate was in Northumberland, on the Tyne. This 
fine old specimen of feudal days with its massive 
tower, supported on great arches, stands to-day as it 
was originally built, with the additions by the succes- 
sive Featherstonhaughs, in the centuries which followed the one 
far back in time when the f^rst huge block of stone was put in 
place, with the exception, that the interior has been refitted and 
modernized in accord with the present ideas of domestic luxury. 
It was here that Sir Albany Featherstonhaugh was slam. 
This foray was mentioned by Scott in his "Marmion." in Canto I. 
The Castle XIII, where, 

"The northern harper rude, chanted a rhyme of deadly feud. 
How the fierce Thirwalls and Ridleys all, 
Stout Willimondswick, 
And Hardriding Dick. 
And Hugie of Hawdon. and Will o' the wall 
Have set on Sir Albany Featherstonhaugh,^^ 
And taken his life at the deadman's-shaw." 
This foray in which Sir Albany was killed is described at 
greater length in "I'.order Minstrelsy." 

The last of the name to occupy the castle was Sir Matthew 
Featherstonhaugh. wh.o sold the estate to Lord Wallace, in 1743 
Sir Matthew purchased an estate in Sussex, which he called 
"Uppark". and built on it a fine baronial residence. This was 



i86 Old Schenectady. 

left to his heir. Sir Harry, who (Hed childless, in 1846, the estate 
going to his wife. Sir Harry and George W. Featherstonhaugh, 
who bnilt the large mansion on the shore of Featherstonhaugh lake 
Duanesburg, beside being related, were intimately acquainted, 
Mr. Featherstonhaugh being a frequent visitor at "Uppark", when 
he was in England. 

George William Featherstonhaugh, the founder of the 
American branch of the family, was one of the most remarkable 
men of the nineteenth century^ — in a way, perhaps the most 
remarkable man of that century. Although possessed of wealth 
which made a life of indolent ease possible, his whole life was 
devoted to travel for pleasure and investigation ; to the study of 
geology and exploration for the United .States Government ; to 
important diplomatic service for his own country — Great Britain — 
and to the establishment of the railroad in America, as a means 
of opening the vast territory of the interior and of connecting, 
for commercial purposes, the great markets of the country. That 
he was the discoverer of the possibilities of the railroad and tlie 
actual founder of the present vast railroad systems of this conti- 
nent and that he worked, single-handed, for fifteen years against 
ridicule and unbelief, will be shown later. Besides all this, Mr. 
Featherstonhaugh was the intimate acquaintance and friend of 
America's greatest statesmen — in the days when statesmen were 
great and not merely 'iubtile politicians — and the friend of kings. 
Personally, he was a man of great height, being six feet two 
inches, of powerful physique, and was possessed of a highly 
cultivated mind and of a fine spirit. He was a floer of things, 
from his university days to the day of hi? death, at the age of 
eighty-six. 

Mr. Featherstonhaugh was born in London, England, in 
1 780, a few months after the death of his father. ( )wing to the 
unsettled and dangerous conditions surrounding residence in 
London, because of the Lord George Gordon Riots — which 
Dickens made familiar to the English speaking world in his 
"Barnaby Rudge" — Mrs. Featherstonhaugh moved from London 



lu\it/icrsloiiliau!^Ii. 187 

to Scarsboro. in \'c)rksliirc. with lur cliildixii and it was here that 
Mr. Featherstonhaugh spent his youth and prepared for his 
university course. He received his university decree at the aj^e 
of twenty-one and immediately thereafter began to indulge his 
love for travel and the acquisition of knowledge. He traveled in 
Italy, Switzerland and France for two years, and at the age of 
twenty-six. had so far mastered the languages of those countries 
and of Spain, that he could speak and write them with the same 
fluency as his native English. He was, later, a fine Greek and 
Latin scholar and could converse as readily in Latin as in any 
of the modern languages that he had mastered. He was also an 
accomplished musician. 

In the middle of the first decade of the nineteenth century, the 
Bird of Freedom was doing a deal of screaming. The American 
people were beginning to lose some of the dignified repose of 
Washington's day and were beginning to take on national airs and 
graces and to become proficient performers upon the horn — all of 
which attracted the attention of Europe toward the lusty young 
nation. 

In 1806 Mr. Featherstonhaugh decided to visit the L'nited 
States for pleasure and to study the people and their institutions. 
He brought with him letters to many of the more prominent 
families and spent two years in the cities of the north Atlantic 
states. When he left England for America, he ])robal)ly had no 
more idea that he would fall in love with and marry an .\merican 
girl, than that he would, some day, he king. He did .so, however, 
and the meeting with his future wife was of a most romantic 
nature. 

In 1808 Mr. Featherstonhaugh was in Fhiladelphia and it 
so happened that Madam Duane, the widow of Judge James 
Duanc, of \ew York City and Schenectady, was in the city and 
that her family was with her. Mr. Featherstonhaugh saw one 
day, a pair of horses, attached to a ])rivate carriage, madly dash- 
ing through the street, uncontrolled by their driver. The first 
thought of a young man of his s])irit and courage was to stop 



1 88 



Old Schcnccfadv. 




the horses and save those inside the carriag-e from injury and 
])<)ssihle death. After he had stop])ed the terrified horses, he 
went to the assistance of the occu- 
pants of the carriage and his gaze 
had no sooner fallen upon the 
l)eautiful face and dainty person of 
Sarah Duane, than he lost his heart, 
and for her mother, the stately 
Madam Duane. the daughter of 
Robert Livingston, he conceived the 
most profound respect and an ad- 
miration, which later became mu- 
tual. ( )n her part, Miss Duane saw, 
in the tall, elegant gentleman, 
whose courage had saved herself 
Sarah Una,,,'. aiid licr uiothcr, a man wdio was 

worth} of her deepest love. 
The rather formal acquaintance resulting from such inci- 
dents, in this instance, rapidly ripened into friendship. A few 
months later, on November 6, 1808, Mr. Featherstonhaugh and 
Miss Duane were married in St. George's Church. Schenectady, by 
the Rev. Cyrus Stebbins. besides l)eing beautiful, nature had 
given her a brilliant intellect which had been so highly cultivated 
that she was reputed to be the most accomplished girl of her age 
in the entire country. At the age of but thirteen, she was wonder- 
fully clever with the paint brush, as may be seen to-day from 
pictures from her brush at that age — still treasured by the family 
in the Duanesburg mansion. Especially fine are a water color of 
West Point, sketched from the opposite side of the Hudson, and 
an oil, of a hunter in the forest, painted from the imagination. 
She was also an accomplished musician. Especially was she 
mistress of the harp. With tastes and accomplishments so similar, 
it would have been indeed a wonder had they not loved. 

In the spring after their marriage, 1809, Mr. Featherston- 
haugh began to build a mansion on the thousand acres willed to 
his wife by Judge Duane, in Duanesburg, which included what 



I'callicrshniliair^li. 189 

was later called. l-eatherstonhaui;h lake. This residence had a 
fronta-e of one lunulrcd and forty feet on the lake and was sixty 
feet deep. It was in the style of architectnre to he fonnd on 
oentlenien's estates in Enijland. and the acres immediately snr- 
roundins^ the mansion were laid out as a park. The estate was 
called Featherstonhangh Park. Mr. Featherstonhaugh was hroad 
and liheral in his ideas and, at the same time, he was intensely 
Kno-lish. It was, therefore, hut natur.-d that his American home 
should he. in a general way. as nearly like his English home as 
was possible. 

He then entered upon the most extensive practical and experi- 
mental farming operations of any man of his day in the State. 
Houses were built for his steward, or head farmer, and the farm 
hands ■ barns were built for the harvested crops and stables for the 
horses and other live stock. The live stock was all thoroughbred 
and imported from England. Although busily occupied with the 
administration of his estate and the experimental operations of 
the farm, Mr. Featherstonhangh took time to begin a correspond- 
ence with the best known agriculturalists of the day and with 
geologists— geologv being a subject of which he was fond and 
upon "which he was an authority. His correspondents Hved in 
(n-eat r.ritain. on the Continent and in the United States; so the 
interchange of ideas, theories and of actual results was most 
^•aluable. In addition, he began his literary work which, later, 
included manv subjects. At this time, he published two volumes. 
of agriculture, based upon the results of his experiments: con- 
trilnrted, in i)rose and poetry, to the periodicals of the day and. 
for recreation, translated Dante's Inferno. 

Respected, and sought after, for his mental attainments by 
his social and intellectual peers of both Continents; atter his 
marriage with the beautiful and cultivated Sarah Duaiie. these 
attractions were increased, and the mansion in Duanesburg became 
a veritable Mecca for the scientists, authors and statesmen .^f 
England and America. Among his most intimate acciuanitances 
and friends were-Iames ^ladison. John Quincy .\dams. Andrew 



190 



Old ScJiciicclady. 



Jackson, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoon, John Jay. Henry 
Clay, Lafayette, Joseph, King of Spain, and his brother Jerome 
Bonaparte ; Dr. Buckland, dean of Westminster Abbey ; Sir 
Roderick Murcherson, president of the Geological Society, of 
London, and Sir John Sinclair, of Edinburgh, at that time the 
greatest authority on agriculture. The most fre(|uent of the 
visitors at the Duanesburg mansion was Henry Clay. 

There is, perhaps, nothing that so strongly emphasizes the 
oyerpowering influence of commercialism and the greed for 
dollars of the present day, as the fact, that while the people of 
Schenectady boast of the prosperity of the citv and are more or 
less accurately acquainted with the size of the ])ay-rolls of the 
General Electric and American Locomotive Companies, they know 
little or nothing of the men of national prominence who lived 
and visited in Schenectady. The Yankee is as eager for the 
dollar as the Xew Yorker; l)ut. while watching intently for the 
main chance, he kee^js the tail of his eye upon the si)lendid past. 
It is not an unusual thing in Xew England to see a tablet on a 
house front giving the information that such or such a man was 
a visitor there, or had passed the night there. It is doubtful if 
there are fifty Schenectadians who 
can state, with accuracy, where 
Washington slept and dined upon 
the occasions of his three visits to 
this city. On the contrary, it is 
stated by a few persons with author- 
ity, that Washington was the guest 
of General William North, with 
Steuben, Herkimer, Schuyler and 
others, at his home in l)uanesl)urg ; 
even the room in which he slept is 
lK)inted out, but as a matter of fact, 
Washington did nothing of the 
kind. He did not go to Duanes- 




f'calhcrsl()ithaiti:^h. 191 

Mr. Featherstonhaug'h's ac(|uainlancc with Cicors^e Stephen- 
son, tlie inventor of the locomotive, liad aroused his interest in 
the possihiHties of steam railroads: and the more he thought on 
the sul)ject, the more was he convinced that railroads were entirely 
l)ractical and ])racticablc. In 181 i. h.e began to write to friends 
and acquaintances to obtain their ideas on the subject and, in. 
every instance, his faith in railroads was treated with toleration 
or ridicule and always without faith. It required more than 
lack of faith on the jxirts of cnhers to discoiu-age him. His 
eyes saw into the future and his brain told him. that to shorten the 
distances between cities, by reducing the time required in traveling 
from one to another, would be the quickest road to commercial 
and consequently to national greatness. 

In 1 812, he began to write articles on the suljject for the 
periodicals (^f the day. These being more widely read than his 
letters, only served to provide amusement for a greater mniiber 
of doubters, whose wisdom told them that to travel upon rails 
by means of steam at the rate of from six to ten miles an hour 
was impossible and the idea, the result of a disordered mind. He 
was ridiculed and laughed at on llie street — behind his back, how- 
ever—and had he proposed the tele])hone or wireless telegra]:)hy. 
])eople could not have thought him more of a wild dreamer than 
th.ey did. ( )ne Schenectady humorist remarked to some friends 
on the street, one day. just after Air. Featherstonhaugh had 
]tassed : "Did you ever hear of such a wild idea? Why, a train 
could not be made to go fast enough 1)etween this city and .\lbany 
to kee]) the mosffuitoes from eating the ]jassengers.'" lUit he ])er- 
sisted in his faith and in his etYorts to convince some one that 
railroads were ])ossible. \\y persisting, he became the fatlu'r of 
the present railroad systems of Xorth .America whicli, in 1904, 
have 250,000 miles of road : and he, at the same time, gave to 
Schenectady tlie honor of being the place in which the subject of 
railroads was tirst broached. The railroad between Haltimore and 
W'asliington was in operation a few years earlier than was the 
Mohawk and TTudson. but neither road would liave been litiilt 



192 Old Schenectady. 

when it was built, had not Mr. Featherstonhaugh l:)ecn fighting 
for them for fifteen years, alone, against the cruelest weapon 
known to mankind — ridicule. 

In 1823 he had succeeded in convincing one man — Stephen 
Van Rensselaer, the last Patroon — and, realizing that the public 
could not be depended upon, and that some one must take the 
initiative, on December 26, 1825, he advertised in the Schenectady 
Cabinet, a notice for application to the Legislature for a rail- 
road charter. This notice was run for six weeks and created great 
interest and excitement. The charter was granted on March 26, 
1826, and the Patroon and Mr. Featherstonhaugh were the only 
persons named in the charter as directors, and Mr. Featherston- 
haugh sailed in the fall with his wife and young son, James, for 
England, to consult with Stephenson in regard to the motive 
power for the railroad. They remained abroad for two years, 
which were spent in traveling all over the Continent and in 
England. 

His work and reputation as a geologist had preceded him. 
Upon his arrival in London, he was elected a Fellow of the 
Geological Society of London. Upon their return to America, in 
T828, the family went immediately to Duanesburg. A spark 
from the fire lighted in the gTeat fireplace in the hall, fell upon 
the roof and the fine old mansion was burnt to the g-round. Before 
they sailed for England in 1826, Mr. Featherstonhaugh 's two 
little daughters had died. This, with the destruction of the home 
so full of memories connected with them, seemed to crush him. 
He went to New York to reside and never again saw his Duanes- 
burg estate. The present home of Robert C. Cullings was built 
upon the wine-cellar of the old Featherstonhaugh mansion. 

Tn the June following the removal to New York — the house 
was on the lower end of Broadway — Mrs. Featherstonhaug-h 
died. From this time he devoted all his efforts to literature, travel 
and exploration. He became a member of the Philoso]>hical 
vSocicty and of the Academy of Natural Science, of Philadel|)hiu 
and of the Lyceum of Natural History, of New York. 



Fealhcrsloiihaiigh. 193 

In 1829, he translated the Repuhhe of Cicero and lectured 
frequently on j;eoloy\ in Philadelphia and Xew York. Jn 1831. 
he estahlished and puhlished iIk hrst periodical, on geol()i;y, in 
America, called "The Monthly American Journal of Geology and 
Natural Sciences", and as the result of his work, he was spoken 
of in Europe and America as '"The Father of American Geology." 
In 1833, he was appointed, hy Congress, the first Government 
Geologist. The honor of this appoiiUnient will he more fully 
appreciated when it is known that Air. Featherstonhaugh never 
hecame a citizen of the I'nited v^tates, hut remained a subject of 
the King to the day of his death; and it will he shown, later, that 
his son, James, a citizen of the United States, was appointed hy 
(".reat I'.ritain to re])resent that government, as one of the two 
engineers in the north-east boundary disi)tite between Canada and 
the United States, thus emphasizing the confidence of two Xations 
in the family. Some of the best fossil specimens in the l^ritisb 
Museum were obtained bv Mr. Featherstonhatigh and given t' 
that institution by him. In this year, 1833, he translated tlv. 
Italian romance by Mauzoni. "1 I'romissi Sposi." famous, at that 
time. 

The following year he l)egan that series of ex])lorations, as 
Government Geologist — the first ever undertaken by the (nn-ern- 
ment — which resulted in the gathering of most important in- 
formation regarding the history of the Continent, as read in its 
locks. His first journey was to Mexico which he reached on 
horseback and in canoes. .\ great deal of this vast territory had 
never before been visited by whitt men. The primitive forest 
was grand; the game and wild animals were ])leiUiful, and 
adventures fre(|uent. The ad\ennu-es met with would lill a 
\dhnne. .After his return, he ])ublished an official account ot his 
research and discoveries for the government, and he married 
Charlotte Carter, grand-daughter of "King" Carter — so called 
on account of his vast possessions — of Shirley Hall on the James 
river. 

In 1835. he made another journey of exploration for the 



194 Old Schenectady. 

g-overnmeiit on fool, on horseback and in canoes, to the wilderness 
of the northwest, in Michigan and about the lakes, he being the 
tirst white man to penetrate that wild region. He explored toward 
the west to the Mississippi and went up the ]\linnay Sotor river — 
now called St. Peter's river — in canoes. Numerous bands of 
Indians were encountered. Mr. Featherstonhaugh's great height 
and commanding presence caused the Indians to give him a 
friendly reception. After he had explained the purpose of his 
presence, they gave him every assistance and extended to him 
their hospitality, which largely consisted in "scalp dances" in 
which he sometimes took part, for diplomatic reasons. He also 
attended their councils and remained for some time with them, 
to learn their language. He returned to civilization, after being- 
absent for a year, published the report of the expedition and 
started for the Cherokee Nation, in Georgia, and was there for a 
considerable tiiue. studying the Cherokees. the geological strata 
and formation and natural history 

These exi)loring and geological trijis were delightful to such 
a man as Mr. Featherstonhaugh. The weeks and months were 
tilled with adventure and intenseh' interesting incident . besides 
great hardshi])s and danger from wild beasts and Indians; so. 
when he returned to Washing-ton from his sojourn with the 
Cherokees. he s])ent the succeeding two years (|uietly. devoting 
liimself to literature, nuisic and societw At the end of the two 
years, in 1839. he sailed for England, with his family, with the 
determination of spending the remainder of his life in his native 
land; l)ut the I'.ritish (jo\ernment delermined otherwise. 

Mr. I'\'atlierstonhaugh arrived in bjighind at the time when 
tlie dispute l)etween C.reat Iw-itain and the L'nited v'^tates. over 
the boundarx- between Maine and Canada, was the most l)itter. 
I lis arrival al this time seemed most o])ponune; for the govern- 
ineiit immediateK called u])on him for information in regard to 
the con<litions in the west, because of his knowledge of things 
.\merican. ,\fter constdtation with .Mr. l'\'atherstonhaugh. the 
goverununt decide<l to ap])oinl a cominission to adjust the dispute 



Pcafhcrstonhaugh. 195 

and settle the lioundary ; so he was appointed a commissioner by 
his friend, the Earl of Durham. Richard L. Mndge. a noted 
astronomer, was the other commissioner. James Duane Feather- 
stonhaugh — the son who was named for his grandfather, the 
illustrious patriot — a young man of twenty-five and a citizen of 
the United States, was appointed one of the two engineers of 
the commission and its secretary, by the I'.ritish Government; 
Colonel Broughton. of the Royal Engineers, being the other. 
Three months were spent in equipping the exi:)edition. and early 
in 1840, the Commission sailed for Canada. In 1844. Mr. Feather- 
stonhaugh returned to England and made his report and recom- 
mendations, with the result, that the United States gained a con- 
siderable territory to the northward of the line claimed by Great 
r.ritain. The thanks of both houses of Parliament were given to 
Mr. Featherstonhaugh. 

While traveling in the south. Mr. Featherstonhaugh studied 
closely and impartially, the subject of slavery and the conditions 
which surrounded it. and made the purchase and sale of human 
beings possible, only to become disgusted with the whole sub- 
ject. He wrote a book reflecting on slavery while in the south, 
in which he made a bitter attack upon slaverv. but he refrained 
for obvious reasons, from publishing it, while in the service of the 
United States or Great Britain. About ten years later. Harper 
Brothers published as a political tract, the gist of the book in 
pamphlet form. He also published two volumes, giving an 
account of his exi)eriences, adventures and of the Indians among 
whom he lived on the exi)e(lition to the Minnay Sotor. He also 
,,nblished a satirical sketch in 1839, entitled: "BarcMi Roorback's 
Tour." This name "Roorback," became a catch-word m the 
south, to <lescribe persons of the "Roorback" variety. 

P.ut even now. Mr. Featherstonhaugh was not pernutted to 
remain m private life. His warm personal friend. Lord .\ber- 
deen, in recognition of his services in America, appointed Inm 
to represent Great Britain, as Consul of the Department of the 
Sein. in France. It was at Havre. France, in his capacity of 



196 Old Schenectady. 

Consul, that he experienced the most exciting and romantic of ail 
his adventures. This was nothing less than helping the King of 
France to escape, from his rebellious people, to England. Soon 
after going to Havre, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal 
Society of London. In 1845, li<-' went to Paris and was presented 
to the King and Queen. Louis l'hilip])e was delighted with Mr. 
Featherstonhaugh ; both were accomplished linguists and exten- 
sive travelers ; and as the King had been in the United States, 
they spent much time in conversation. An invitation to attend 
the royal I)all and supper was received and accepted. A warm 
friendship existed between the great Anglo-Saxon and the 
unfortunate French King, which culminated in the saving of the 
King by his Anglo-Saxon friend, from capture and, ])ossibly, from 
death. 

When Louis Phili])pe abandoned the throne, in February, 
1848, he fled to the coast 0])posite England, in the hope that he 
would l)e able to escape across the channel. The Ih-itish Govern- 
ment, anticipating this attempt by the King, Lord I'almerston 
issued orders to all British officials to help liim, if it should lie 
possible. Mr. Featherstonhaugh, being more in touch with the 
King, from his ac(iuaintance with him, received information that 
he had succeeded in reaching the coast near llonheur. He sent 
the \'ice-Consul, in a sailing packet, to the ])lace where the King 
and Queen were in liiding. The \'ice-Consul found them in a 
small house and explained his errand. The King sent a recpiest 
to Mr. Featherstonhaugh to try to devise a plan for his escape, 
and ])romised that he would follow it faithfully. .\n excuse for 
sending tlu i)acket l)ack in the evening was made. The King and 
(jueen disguised themselves, the King l)eing "Mr. Smith." an 
uncle of Mr. J^'eatherstonhaugh." Provided with the Consul's 
passport, they arrived by the packet safely at 1 lavre and were 
met on the dock by Mr. Featherstonhaugh, who, according to the 
King's own account of it, asked: "I low do \-ou do, Lncle?"" to 
which the King replied: 'Aery well, Ceorge. I thank you." 

'Pile "micle" took his "nephew's" arm, and they pushed their 



I'ratlicrst('iilnni_i::li. Kjj 

way throUL^h ihc crowd <.f .j^ciularmcs in board ihv little I'.ritish 
steamer, in command of Captain I'aul. who had everything in 
readiness and steam np, for a hurried departure. As they 
were descending- the gang-plank to the steamer, Madam Alousse, 
a hanger-on and amateur detective of the Customs House, stared 
the King in ihe face and forced an introduction hy Mr. Feather- 
stonhaugh, who said: "My uncle, Mr. Smith. Madam Mousse." 
"Ah," said she. "it appears that the uncle is not much older than 
the nephew." The) then forced their way past the woman and 
entering the cabin of the steamer. Mr. Featherstonhaugh took the 
King's hand, and said: "Now, thank (hkI, you are safe." lie 
immediately left the King, and ste])pe(l on to the dock, just as 
the steamer was moving oti. Madam Mousse had, in the mean- 
time, called a French officer, who asked: "Who was the person 
vou put on board the steamer?" "My uncle." was the reply. 
"Ah. Mr. Consul, what have you done, what have you done?" 
"What would you have done in my ])lace?" asked Mr. FVather- 
stonhaugh. The King reached l^ngland safely, and before his 
death, two years later, sent to his friend and rescuer, the T.ritish 
Consul at Havre, a golden box. studded with diamonds. Mr. 
Featherslonhaugh was especially invited to attend the funeral of 
the unfortunate Louis l'hilipi)e. 

Mr. Featherstonhaugh remained as Consul at Havre up to 
the (lav of his death, in September, iSf)h. at the age of eighty-six. 
That (George W. Featherslonh.uigh was intensely Fnglish and 
loved his cotnitry. was shown by the archiiecture of his Duanes- 
burg mansion, the arrangement of the park in which it stood: but 
more emphatically was his feeling for the "( )ld Country" sh.)wn, 
while Consul in Havre: for he caused a ship-load of b'-uglish sod 
to be brought over, so that, when he walked in his garden he 
could tread upon his beloved Fngland. 

As an author. Mr. I'eatherstonliaugh was able to combine 
entertainment with instruction. His two books of travel: "An 
Excursion in the Slave States" and. "A Canoe Voyage up the 
Mimiav Sotor," are so enlivened by the narration of adventures 



19^ Old Schenectady. 

and incidents ; by anecdotes and humorous description, that they 
seem more like stories than an actual account of a scientific 
exploration, by a representative of the United States Government. 

Mr. Featherstonhaugh was a man possessed of high attain- 
ments and cultivation, who traveled through a new country as a 
student of men and manners, as well as a geologist. His impartial 
and true description of the people of the South and Southwest, in 
slavery days, of their manner of living, cheir habits, customs and 
speech, makes "An Excursion in The Slave States" as readable 
to-day, as it was when first published. The Americans of this 
generation know even less about America and the Americans, of 
the time about which he wrote, than they do about Tibet or the 
Antartic regions. 

There has probably been no English gentleman, who has 
written upon the subject of America and tlic Americans, who so 
fully appreciated the fine qualities of the American men and 
women of cultivation and refinement, as did Mr. Featherston- 
haugh. His standard of American manhood and womanhood was 
high ; for it was based upon his wife, Sarah Duane and her stately 
mother and upon his friends, the statesmen cUid scholars of the 
United States, who. with himself, regarded the nuUual friendship 
as an honor. (.)n the other hand, it is doulitful if there has lieeii 
any English authcjr. whose subject was America and its people, 
who was so com])letely nauseated and disgusted with that vast 
hord of illiterate, illbred jirovincials. who jxilluted tlu- atmosphere 
with their speech and disgusted the eye with ilieir manners ; whose 
one object in life was an ostentatious dis])lay. whose one hope, the 
accumulation of dollars. But unlike other, later English writers. 
Mr. Featherstonhaugh did not condemn the whole Nation, 
because it included barbarians, nor did he ridicule the people — 
and their institution.s — whose hospitality and friendship he had 
accepted. On the contrary, in all of his books, he gauged his 
estimate of America from the highest standard and only con- 
demned those who fell below it, because their fall seemed to be 
wilful and of intention. While his associates were, by choice. 



I'rallicrstonluui^i^h. 199 

people i)t his own class, he, at the same time, esteemed and i^ave 
his friendship tc^ i)ersons of simple manners and humble posi- 
tions who lived st) close to Nature that they were Nature's noble 
men and women. The qualities which appealed to liim in the 
humble, were, modesty, cleanliness, thrift and honesty, and he 
found many such in the humble log-cabins, in tlie i^reat north 
and south-west through which he traveled ; and it is hardly 
possible to doubt that his gentle l)reeding and tine manhood 
appealed to them with equal strength. 

The book on the geological-exploration journey into the 
north-west and up the Minnay Sotor river is entirely different 
from the other, but equally fine and interesting. Mr. Feather- 
stonhaugh's descriptions of the pre-historic (Indian?) mounds 
and earthen fortifications are particularly interesting to students 
of the subject of the mound builders. ( )ne of the strong points 
of this book is, tint, in describing the Indians, their manner of 
living and their customs, the author has considered no detail too 
insignificant to be recorded. Thus, a better idea of bow the\ 
lived, what they did and of their tribal and family customs, is 
given to the reader, than would be |)o>sil)le from the generaliza- 
tions of manv other writers upon little known ])eople and lands. 
Two striking i)rediclions made by Mr. l''eatherstonhaugh, more 
than half a centurv ago, have been fulfilled in a most striking 
manner. ( )ne was in regard to Pittsburg: "Pittsburg will, in 
tune, be the great manufacturing place of America. Here will 
be sent the iron smelted from the fiu-naces that will soon be 
erected all over this region of coal and iron ; * * * will 

soon make it the Pirmingham of America." 'I'he other was, thai 
the territory lying to the west from the great lakes, woidd become 
the great granary of the I'nited States. It nuist be remembered, 
that when the prediction was made, the country was in its primi- 
tive wilderness. This prediction was based upon the knowledge 
he had acquired as an experimental and practical agriculturist 
and upon his faith in the ability of the .\merican people to .see, 
and then grasp opportunity. 



Old Schcncctadv. 



JAMES DUAXE FEATHERSTONHAUGH. 

James Duane Featherstonhaugh was born on the Duanes- 
burg estate in 1815 and spent the first eleven vears of his Hfe 
there, romping in the fields and woods, fishing in the lake and 
preparing with a tutor for college. His love for travel, inherited 
from his father, was indulged in his twelfth year, when in 1826, 
his father sailed for England to consult George Stephenson in 

the interests of the Mohawk 
& Hudson Railroad. Two 
years were spent on the conti- 
nent hy his parents, young 
James in the meantime attend- 
ing school in Yorkshire. 
After the return to America, 
in 1828. the home in Duanes- 
liurg having burnt down, the 
family lived in Xew York and 
lie continued his education 
and prepared for college at 
Hyde Park. He took his en- 
trance examinations iov L'nion 
jnm.> i),uu,r i',u,iiu,^,.,„hau'j,. Collcgc iu 1 830 aucl was grad- 

uated with the class of '.'4, al 
the age of nineteen. The three years after graduation were spent 
in railroad construction. 

in 1S37. he sailed, alone, io iMighuid for thi ])ur|)ose of seeing 
tlie coronation of Britain's best and niosl enliglitened ruler, (Jueen 
Victoria. He remained in England but :• short lime and, return- 
ing t(j New York, he continued to reside there till his father 
determined to return to England to live there permanently. It 
was at this time. 1839, that father and son were appointed, 
respectively, by the British Government, a commissioner and an 
engineer of the north-east boundary dispute. The wilderness of 
Maine and the adjoining territory of Canada was grand with its 




l'Ctilhcrsh>iihaui::li. 



20 1 



r„.s,-.T,.«H. pine. ..f s-rcal l.^iKl" -"'^ n,x„u,tc,x,HX- us src. 
„,,<. a„.l oU,.r hanl w.o.ls .,,.1 its s,,lnMM clars. 1 Ik- «".. U 

,„ u,os. ,h.vs w,.u. n.„ lik. .1,0 w Is w. l<n..v anyth,,,. al„,„. 

„,,„ , a„ok lanRK- of un,k.aa.nv.n :u,.l sapln.^s. Ilu- ^r n 1 
„,;,ll voyvlation tlwt in.|K-.K'S Uu- way an.l Uk 
as like whal wo oall a sr'"'*'. m 



was iroi- triiiii all sma 

^i.rlii Till- naliiral conditicii w: 

,h;so'<lavs, SO ,l,c view was unol.s.vuete.l, save Uy ,he sreat stems 

of ,„e .ian, trees of the primitive fores,. TW heauttful lakes 







.„,,,,,,,..., elear that the wh„e sa„.lv l,e,ls o.„kl l.e seen ,, -.any 
;:;;::iow.tl,es,,rfaee.w.e,.e,e,,e,-o,,sUs,,,plie.lw,,.r.Uae 

trot,ta„a.l,espeekle.lheamiesof,reats,.e.a„ t,>lo 

swa„,ps w,tl, ga,„e a„.l he,-ee a„i„,als. espee,all. '^ " 

--->"-^-':-:'L^'-rt:„"r;::::i:;::::.:- 



,,f his work, ai.pcalol to him as the juunu.ys to, 
in the vcars past, to his father. 



202 Old Schcnci-tacly. 

During- the four ^ears he was in the wilderness, he experi- 
enced hardships, privation, adventures and one of the most 
horrible experiences imag-inable. Late one autunui, all the men 
of the surveying party, except Mr. Featherstonhaugh and a 
French-Canadian, left the camp to go up the St. John's river for 
the winter's supplies, expecting to return in a few weeks, but a 
great snow storm prevented it and shut Mr. Featherstonhaugh 
off from the world for four months. One day, after the great 
fall of snow, the "Canuck" heard or saw a moose not far from the 
log house. He started out to shoot it. if possible, for its meat, as 
they were short of provisions, and for its hide. As the man had 
not returned to camp at dusk, Mr. Featherstonhaugh went in 
search of him. After several hours spent without finding the 
man, he returned to camp for rest and food. In the morning, he 
renewed the search and found his man not far from the camp 
lying close to the body of the dead moose between its fore and 
hind legs. The Canadian was in a shocking condition. His feet, 
legs, hands and arms, being unprotected from the intense cold, 
were frozen. The man was carried to the log house and lived in 
this awful condition for ten days. After his death. Mr. Feather- 
stonhaugh susi)ended the body by a rope from the ridgepole of the 
cabin, where it froze stiff' and swayed gentlv for four months, in 
the wind, which forced its way between the logs. It is difffcult 
to even imagine wluil it must have been to be forced to sleep and 
eat in the presence of the swaying corpse ; to go out into the 
dazzling depths of snow and the sun to hunt for food, oidy to 
return to the awesome presence of his dead companion. At last, 
late in the winter, the absent members of the party returned to the 
cabin on snowshoes and soon after, they and Mr. Featherston- 
haugh, left the woods and he returned t(^ civilization and his 
friends. 

In 1844, his marriage with Miss Fmily Chapman, daughter 
of General Sidney F. Chapman, of Virginia, took place in Wash- 
ington, D. C. President Tyler was a guest at the wedding and 
charming Dolly Madison stood by the side of the bride, during 



l-cafhciwtonhiiiii'li. 



203 



the ceremoin-. After a \car sp^'iil in W 'asliin.L;t<)ii. Mr. and Mrs. 
I'eatherstonhaut^ii sailed for I*'ran<.e Id reside in 1 la\re wlure Mr. 
Featherstonhaui;Ii's father, C.eor^e W. I'Valherstonhatii^h. was 
British Consul. Mr. Featherstonhaug-h was present on the nig-ht 
his father helped the Kin<;- of France to esca]:)e to Ent^land. lie 
and his wife resided in I lavre till iS^j. wlun they crossed the 
channel to i'-ugland and li\ed in the suhnrh of ('.reat h'alini;-, till 
iSt5. when the\- returned to .\nierica, where Air. l'"eatluM-ston- 
hautiirs presence was necessary to take charge of the Duanesbursj; 




FeatherstnnhauRh Mansion. Dnanr.h 



])ro])erty and niansiori left to him hv his aunt. Thev resided in 
the Duaneshur.^- mansion, huill by Miss Catherine Fivini;ston 
Duanc in 1S12, till 1860, when the family moved to Schenectady, 
only spending;- the snnnner months in Duaneshtu-^-. Mr. h'eather- 
stonhaugh died in 1899. 

Mr. James Duane Fcatherstonhaui^h's .gentle hirth and culti- 
\ate(l mind caused him to treat all persons, irres])ective of position 



204 



Old Sclu'iicitadw 



or condition, with friendly courtL-sy. The Inchans anioni;' whom 
he Hved for the ,s;"reater part of fonr \ears in the Maine forest and 
across the border in Canada, had the same feehngs of ccMifidence 
and esteem for him, in their jjrimitive savag'e refinement, as did 
his social and intellectnal eqnals at home and abroad. Whether 
in the log- cal)in of the Maine forests or the hosi)ita1)le home of 
I'ark and Xellie Custis, where he was a freqnent and welcome 
visitor, he was the same — faith fnl to all his inherited instincts. 




Chapter XIII. 



A 



r.\{\E\<.\\. WILLIAM .\( )LTII. 
J'.( )["V (iiK'-tliird of mik' c'lsl of the iH-alhersli )nliaui;li 
inansioii in I )naiK'sl)ur!^-, is liic old Xortli lioiist', Ixiill 
1)\ (a'lural William Xorlli in 17S4. wIkii \hv wilder- 
ness was vast and strand and the woh'es were tierce 
and nnnierons and so hold, that lhe\ howled ahout the 
honse al nii^ht. while it was hein-^- hnilt. 
There is nothing- of the mansion ahont the Xorth 
house, but it is a fine s])eeinien of the old-time Xew 
iMii^land home, such as are to he found in the coast- 
towns of Massachusetts and Maine. This .Xorth house is forty- 
tive feet scjuare, with lar.ge rooms and lofty ceilings. The l)ase- 
ment was finished off for the kitchen, i)antries and the apartments 
for the house-slaves. The side of the Iwsement, fronting- the 
south, was open : while, at the l)ack and ends, were the usual 
mason work against the excavation, the sotith side, heing on the 
l)row of a knoH. was fitted with doors and windows. That i)ortion 
of the basement, not used for kitchen and living <|uarters, was 
divide(l into store-rooms for jjrovisions. \egetal)les and the famous 
Xorth wine-cellar. 

General Xorth and his fre(|uent visitors. I'.aron Steuben. 
C.enerals Loi)ham, Schuyler and otlur famous men. wire ])ort- 
winers of the three-bcjttle variety. They <lrank long and dee]) 
and played for high stakes, but their drinking- and their gaming 
were the drinking and gaming- of gentlemen of the old school. 
If the neg-ro biuler put them <dl to bed. after a joll\- night, in the 
small hours, the white l)Utler was doing tiie same thing lor the 
same class of hard drinking, great-hearted gentlemen, in the old 
cotuury. 

William Xorth. a young- gentleman of cuhivalion, line 



2o6 



Old Schenectady. 



presence and ardent i)atriotisni, was Ijorn in 1755, in Maine, and 
entered the Continental army at the early age of nineteen and was 
assigned to service in New York. His military duties brought 
him in frequent contact with I>aron Steuben, who was so greatly 
])leased with }-oung North that, young as he was, Steuben 
a])pointed him an aide on his staff. North did his duty as a 
soldier, well and faithfuUv and. although not ]:)articularly con- 
s]:)icuous for any one J.ct, was worthy of the confidence and esteem 
of Washington, Steuben, Herkiiuer and Schuyler. That other 
patriot and statesman, judge Duane, regarded young North so 
liighh that he gave him his elclest daughter, Mary, in marriage. 
As in the case of his other son-in-law. (icorge W. Featherston- 
haugh, judge Duane gave C.eneral North's wife an estate of one 
thousand acres in Duanesburg. 

It has been said that Gent'ral .NOrth found the estate covered 
by a forest of magnificent trees of ]m^v and hard woods. He 
attacked Nature with the same vim with which he had attacked 




Xorlh's Diiaiicibiirg llomr. Built 



General Jf'illiain Wirfli. 207 

the British and finally succeeded in making a very fine place of it. 
The timber for the frame of the house and the pine and beautiful 
curly maple for the interior tinish, were cut on the place. The 
(laylight noise.^ of hammer and .saw were succeeded at night 1)\ 
ihe howls of the hungry wolves, till the house was finished, when 
the men had time to devote to hunting. 

The main entrance is through a vestibule ; thence, directly iiUo 
the living room, twenty-two feet square. Opposite the door, is the 
great chimney with its open fireplace. Back of this room, on the 
opposite side of the great chimney, is a cosey dining room with a 
fireplace and a trapdoor, leading down to the well-stocked wine- 
cellar. A hall separates the dining room from a large rcK)m 
which (leneral North, with his Yankee birth and training. 
])n)babl}- called "the best room." or possibly, "a chamber." At 
the front and adjoining the living room, is the library. The 
iibrar\' is provided with n bookcase, extending across one side of 
the room and reaching nearly to the ceiling. It is made of beauti- 
ful curly maple, which has grown dark with age. Upstairs, over 
the dining-room was the school-room, and across the hall, the 
bed-room where Baron Steuben passed many a night, dreaming 
of port and sherry and cognac, to be assimilated on some future 
occasion. 

On the panes of the win.dows in the living room are t(^ be 
seen, to-day, some initials made with diamonds. l)y (icneral 
North's famous guests. The most interesting of them all are 
those of Hannah North, the general's daughter, who. it may be 
imagined, in her girlish pride in the possession of her first 
diamond, tried its hardness upon the window-pane, by scratching 
her name thereon. .\ sam]:)le of the (|uality cf material of those 
days is to be found in the pa])er on the walls of the li\ing-room. 
It has a whitish l)ackground ; the i)attern. in light brown, repre- 
senting minerets and cathedral-like arches. This paper is in as 
good condition as it was when (jcneral North tKCUi)ied the house. 

The house stands on the eastern end of one of those "hog- 
backs" or elongated knolls witli which the Duanesburg hills are 



2o8 Old Schenectady. 

topped, as descri1)e(l in the chapter on Judge Duane. The land 
falls away at the sides, and in the rear gradually. And on the east 
or front, is a considerable level. South of the house, some six 
hundred feet, is a little valley half a mile long, and of irregular 
width, averaging, perhaps, an eighth of a mile. Through this, in 
the old days, ran a vigorous little brook which left the valley at the 
western end, through a narrow gorge six feet wide. Across this 
General North placed a dam, thus forming a charming lake half 
a mile long, with winding shores, heavily timbered on the south 
and cleared fields and the grounds immediately surrounding the 
house, on the north. The lake was particularly beautiful and 
added greatly to the charm of the scenery. Thirt\- or forty vears 
ago the dam was destroyed and the water allowed to run off, 
l)ecause the bottom of the lake was so valuable for farming pur- 
]wses — the rich, black loam being very fertile. Even the brook 
loses itself, save in wet weather, for the cutting oft" of the forest 
has caused many of the bubbling springs of those old days to drv 
up. Thus, man}- lovely spots as well as characters, have been 
changed into ugliness for the sake of the almighty dollar. 

A road and stone walk connected the North home with the 
present Featherstonhaugh mansion — built l\v Miss Catherine 
Livingston Duane, in 1812 — a third of a mile distant from the 
North house. This must not be confused with the original 
mansion, built by George W. Featherstonhaugh, on the shore 
of Featherstonhaugh lake: but it is the mansion in which his son 
James Duane Featherstonhaugh lived and in which his grandson, 
the present George W. Featherstonhaugh, and his family, s^Knid 
the summer months — the house shown in the picture. 

For some reason, not known, the granddaughters of General 
North, Miss Hannah North and Mrs. Weston, the wife of the 
Rev. Daniel Cody Weston, an Episcopal clergyman, sold the 
Duanesburg home and built a house in Newport, Rhode Island. 
The knocker and one of the mantle-pieces of the Duanesburg 
home were sent to Newport to be used in that house and unless 
they were removed when Miss North sold the Newport property, 
thev are still there. 



General William Norfli. 209 

In recognition of his services .-uul al)ilil\ , \\ illiani Xorlli was 
a|)j)ointe(l by W'ashing^ton, in 1798. inspeclor-j^eneral of the I'nited 
States armies. (leneral North served from the breaking- out of 
tlie war till the close at the surrender of Cornwallis at ^'orktl)wn, 
on which important occasion he was present, in civil life, he was 
perhaps even more prominent than in nulitary life. He was one 
of the first Erie canal commissioners : was three times speaker of 
the Assembly and L'^nited States Senator. General North died in 
1836. 

The beautiful specimens of Indian skill in chii)ping- stone, 
the arrow and spear heads shown in the picture, were found on 
the ground which was covered by the artificial lake, by Mr. 
Hmmett McOuade, of New York citv, a son of the present owner 
of the North property. Tiesides the symmetry and fine work- 
manship of the relics, there is the additional interest due to the 
fact that they were found on the top of a hill of eight hundred 
feet elevation, three or four miles from the Xorman's Kill and 
twelve miles from the Mohawk river. It was generally supposed 
that the Indians did not live on the highlands nor far from a river 
or lake: but there are evidences, on the North place, of a small 
Indian cncam])mcnt, possibly of three or four families. 




hnli»n Spriir Heads, foini,! on GrnI Sorth's I'lac 



Chapter XIV. 




TOLL. 

L'CII a(lniii-al)le historians of Schcneclady County a.> 
^ I'carson. his eihtor. Major McMurray and the Hon. 

John Sanders, state that Karel Haenscr. Toll, the first 
American ancestor of the Toll famil\, was l)orn in 
v^weden : hut his great-grandson arrives at the con- 
clusion, after long and careful investigatit)n, that the 
family is of Xorwegian extraction. This opinion is 
strongly sustained hy the spelling of the second name, 
llaensen, the ending, "sen" heing a t_\i)ical Xorwegian 
ending; the Swedish ending of the same name would he. "son." 
This great-grandson. Dr. D. J- Toll, in 1847, wrote a fifty- 
l)age pamphlet, in his old age, giving anecdotes and reminiscences 
of the family and of two or three other old families, hased upon 
tradition which he ohtained hy word of mouth, from old men who 
were born in the middle of the eighteenth centtu'y and which they 
obtained from their fathers and grandfathers, who were living 
before and immediately after the massacre. In other words ; there 
were, at the most, but two lives between Dr. Toll and llie days of 
the settlement of Schenectady. This is obtaining the traditional 
history of the end of the seventeenth and all t)f the eighteenth 
centuries, in the most direct manner, possible. 

That Karel Haensen Toll came to Schenectady at all— or, at 
least, when he did come — was. largely, a matter of chance. That 
he was a seafaring man is i)robable: for. |)revious to i<')8o. he was 
captured by the Spanish, off the Spanish Main — as the north coast 
of South America and the neighboring islands were called — and 
imprisoned with a companion, probably in the fortress of Porto 
Cabello. After close confinement for several days. Toll and 
his companion were given the liberty of the prison-yard, during 



212 Old Schenectady. 

daylight, but were required to be in their ceU at sunset, at which 
time the keeper visited ah the cehs to look through the peek-hole 
of the doors to see that the prisoners were in their cots ; and then, 
to lock doors. 

While walking about the yard, they, one day, saw a strange 
ship standing in for the harbor. It remained a day or two and 
then beat out to sea, only to return a fevv days later. This was 
repeated several times. It gave the captives an idea for escaping. 
It was an idea requiring courage and determination, ([ualities 
which Karel Haensen Toll showed that he possessed, in a high 
degree, in after years, as a pioneer in Schenectady. 

Toll and his companion made their plans and one day, they 
arranged their cots in the cell, to give them the appearance of 
being occupied. When the keeper made his rounds and glanced 
through the peek-hole, he thought that he saw the two prisoners, 
asleep in their cots. They, in fact, were hiding under the shadow 
of the outer-wall of the fortress. As soon as it was dark enough, 
they climbed the wall and made for the seashore, where they 
made a solemn agreement to stick l)y one another and swim to 
the ship, or die in the attempt. The sea was shallow for a con- 
siderable distance from land and was clogged with a sea-weed 
having sharp edges, which cut and scratched their bodies pain- 
fully, and the salt-water greatly added to their distress. Toll's 
companion sufifered so greatly that he decided to return to cajv 
tivity, rather than endure the agony longer. They bade each 
other good-bye and Toll contiiuied his Right for lil)erty. 

He soon left the sea-weed and striking dee]) water, began a 
swim which lasted far into the night, till suddenly his ears were 
gladdened by the sound of a cock crowing, and then he saw the 
Hash of a lantern. Looking up, he saw the ship, hailed it and, after 
giving an account of himself, was takc-n on board. The crew 
provided him with clothing and in the nu)rning he told his story 
to the captain, who assured him that he would not be given up to 
the Spanish, so long as there was powder and shot on the ship. 
A little later in the day, some ofificers from the fort came off to 



Toll 



213 



ihe ship in a l^oat, l)ut the cai)lain denied all knowlcdi^e of ihc 
escaped prisoner. Toll remained in the ship, which touched at 
the Island of Curacoa, and arrived in New York City about 1680. 
'J'he fact that the last ])ort touched, before arriving at Xew York, 
was Curacoa, no doubt occasioned the belief that Toll came from 
that Island, directly to Schenectady, as Pearson and Sanders, in 
their histories, say that he did. 

The Indians had a custom of giving; names to other Indians 
and to white men, which described some particular event or 
characteristic. Mr. Toll's Indian name was Kingegom or fish, 
his long swim for freedom being something which appealed 
strongly to the Indians' love t)f courage and endurance. 

At the time of his arrival in Xew York, Karel was, probably, 
about twenty-live years old. Whether he remained in Xew York 
for a year or two, or proceeded directly to Albany, is not known ; 
but that he marrie<l Lysbet. a daughter of Daniel Rickhout, of 
Alban\-, is shown by the records of that city. Lysbet, bv the wav, 
is in English, Elizabeth and Karel Haensen is Charles Henr}-. 
They had three sons and five daughters, the first-born was a 
daughter. Xeeltje, who was born on June 20, iC)8^). .\t the time 
of his marriage, he was living — and i)erhaps had been living for 
two or three years — in Schenectady. 

Karel Haensen Toll arrived in Scber.ectadx' with no other 
capital than a soimd l)od\- and mind; a great tleal of that "stuff" 
which made the old Xorsemen, from whom he was descended, 
invincible ; and as great a determination to succeed as he had 
when he swam, all night, with the agony of salt-water in the cuts 
and scratches with which his body was covered. At twenty-tive, 
these (|ualities were his only ])Ossessions ; in his old age. he 
measured his possessions by the s(|uare mile. He developed a 
will, which made him masterful and an individuality so great, that 
it verged upon eccentricity. That he fulfilled the rather stiff 
requirements of the early Dutch Protestants, and was accepted 
into full communion in the venerable First Dutch Church in 1694. 
is shown bv the church-records. 



214 Old Schenectady. 

Karel iirst settled on the north side of the Mohawk river, 
eight miles west of Schenectady, near what is now Hoffman's 
ferry. His first dwelling was what, in the early cattle-ranch days 
of the west, was called a "dug-out." A rectangular excavation 
was made in a hill-side ; the front was inclosed with logs and the 
roof was made of poles and l)ark. Here, Karel and his wife livetl 
and toiled ; he, in the fields ; she, at the spinning-wheel and the 
oven. Economy, thrift and profitable trade with the Indians — too 
far in the wilderness to be interfered with by the greedy Albany 
authorities — started Mr. and Mrs. Toll on the highway to wealth. 
The tiny wages paid by the men for whom he worked, by the 
day, were carefully saved. That the wives of those days were, in 
truth, help-mates and capal)le of great physical exertion, was 
shown by the fact, that when flour was needed, Mrs. T(_)ll wtnild 
walk the eight miles from her home to Schenectady and back, 
carrying three pecks of the flour on her shoulder. This flour 
would be made into cakes, sweetened with maple-sugar and 
"swapped" with the sweet-toothed Indians, for pelts; which, in 
turn, v^ould be sold at great profit, to be sent abroad to Holland, 
where the tanning of skins for furs had reached a degree of skill 
not possil)le in any other country of Europe, at that time, liesides 
l)eing a source of profit to Mrs. Toll, the Indians were a great 
nuisance ; for they would not only hang around, while the baking 
was in progress, begging for food, but they had no idea of tlie 
fine old I'ritish axiom that a man's — or vv'oman's — house was his 
castle. While the Indians were ])roU(l and ceremonious, among 
themselves, they did not hesitate to l)eg from the whites, nor to 
niake themselves at home, all over the house, and the settlers 
were obliged to |)ut \\\) with the annoyance for fear of the 
treachery and revengful spirit of the noble ( ?) Redmen. There 
is no reason to doulH that the Indians were dignified, courteous, 
in a savage wa\-, and possibly noble, before the "Dutch Courage" 
of the wliite man and the white man's cupidity had demoralized 
them. It is e(|ually doubtful if they were ever anything l)nt 
dirty; and there is absolutely no doubt, that after they came in 



Toll. 215 

cuiitacl Willi Lhc wliile sclilcrs in ihc Dutch Colony, ilicy became 
drunken beggars, and even more dni). As every rule has us 
exceptions, so there were exceptions to this rule ; there were rare 
cases of "Noble Redmen;" but they were nearly all, to be found 
in Xew Kngland, New Jersey, l'enn.-\ Ivaiua and tlie ^>outh. 

\\ ith such ph) sical strenglli, such energy and courage, as 
were displayed by Elizabeth loll, there is nothing to wonder at 
that she and her husband accuiuulated wealth and \ast land 
possessions, it was no little undertaking to walk the eight miles 
to the village, for tlotir, ami then to return with three pecks of 
it, in a sack on her shotilder ; and besides, the journey was not 
\\ithout its dangers; for wild animals were in the forest and even 
wolves were numerous a hundred }ears later, in some parts of 
Schenectady County. So, while Karel and Elizabeth Toll labored 
and saved for those who would come after them, they were also 
accumulating qualities and character which would descend, as an 
inheritance, with their lands and houses, to their posterity. 

Ill 1712, Karel purchased, from the Clements, the pro[)erty 
known as " Alaalwyck."" which, with his oilier possessions, gave 
him the ownership of nearly se\en miles of valuable flats along 
the north bank of the Alohawk river. This '"Alaalwyck" farm, 
still sometimes called by that name, l)ut more generally known 
as "The Ttjll Place." is about a mile from the Sanders mansion, 
on the river-road to Hoffman's l'\'rry. 

The purchase of this ])roperty began a new state of affairs for 
.Mr. and .Mrs. Toll. They ab:mdoned tiieir first luimble home 
and moved to "Maalwyck." where Mr. Toll ])egan the erection of 
a more suitable hoiiu'. 'iMiis house was located a little to the west 
of the ])resent ])rick-house. shown in the picture. This new home 
was forty 1)\ twenty-five feet, it was built of brick, probably 
made near the site of the house, one story high and toi)])e.l with 
the high, steep Dutch roof, in which was another story and abo\e 
that, a low, large attic. The usual weather-vane was lacking (Oi 
this house, perhaps because Karel could tell which wa\ the w ind 
was l)lowing, without de])ending ui)nu a vane, for infonnatii'ii — 



Toll. 



217 



he l)eini;' a inarrie'd man. The early Dutch settlers were noted 
for weather-wisdom; and it was said that this wisdom was derived 
from gazing for so many hours at the vanes. "'So wise did they 
hecome, in the matter of the weather, that an exi)erieneed old 
Dutchman could, almost always, tell when it rained, if he was 
given a fair chance," says Dr. Toll. 

The house heing built on a slope toward the sotithwest. had 
a basement-kitchen, facing that point of the compass and behind 
it, was the cellar for vegetables and other solid and liquid nourish- 
ment. On the first floor were two great rooms; one was the 
kitchen-living room and the other, the best room, used onlv on 




especial occasions, such as marriages, funerals and visits of the 
l)astor. (jreat timbers crossed the ceiling which were ])laned 
smooth, with an occasional deeper cut of th.e ax-l)lade showing; 
and the ceiling, also the floor of the second story, was of hea\-\- 
p.lanks, nearly a foot and a half wide, with ihe under, or ceiling- 
side, also planed smooth and rubbecl to almost a i)olisli. The 



i8 



Old Sclnvicctady. 



finest specimen of this heavy-timbered ceihng, now to be found in 
the county, is in the old Abraham Glen house, on Mohawk avenue, 
Scotia, now the residence of Mr. James Collins, and in the ruins 
of the DeGrafif house, near Hardin's crossing, where the settlers 
barricaded themselves in the lieukendaal Indian fight. There 
are many other houses with the great timbers, but the under- 
sides have been ceiled up, thus hiding a most impressive feature 
of old-time architecture. Tlie nice, fine work, done by the old- 
time carpenters, in mortising and dovetailing the joints of these 
great timbers with the even larger upright timbers, would be 
lieyond the skill of the building-carpenters of to-day. 

The great fireplace in the ^laalwyck house, was two feet 
deep and eight feet wide, so that a four-foot log would rest iqion 
the great hand-wrought andirons. The mantel, six feet above 
the hearth, was ornamented with hand-made fluting and mould- 
ing and on the shelf, were numerous china liowls. The windows, 
two 1)\ five feet, were swung on hinges, like a door, and the tinv 
panes of glass were held in i)lace with sheet-lead, as is the glass 



1 Lll ^ 


I' 


s> 




i 


r 

ll " '■ ^ ' 




1 


1 


^^-'»ffli 




1 


iiliii 


■P-^a**^i '" 




_^ 


w 


z^-— - 


m 



ihf Din 1,1 1: Rw, 



Toll. ^ • 9 

ill siaiiicd windows. The •■Maalwyck" house was, next to the 
Sanders mansion, the largest in Schenectady, at the time it was 

btiilt. 

The possession of wealth did not change Karel J laensen 
Toll ; he was, in all respects the same man as when he began m 
a small and humble manner ; but it did give him the time to devote 
more of his great energy to the affairs of the Colony, lie was 
elected one of the three representatives to the Colonial Legisla- 
ture from Albany County in 1714— of which Schenectady was 
then a part— and he continued in the Legislature till 1720. 

His great-grandson, Dr. Daniel Toll. 1 elates an anecdote, in 
his little pamphlet, illustrative of the old gentleman's sporting- 
blood and humor. 

it was on his tirst journey to New York to att>-nd the Legis- 
lature, that he met an acquaintance on one of the sloops, which 
made the trip to New York and back to Albany, by way of the 
Hudson, as regularly as wind and tide would permit. Mr. Toll 
uas wearing a decidedly old traveling-coat. His ac(|uaiiUance 
remarked, in a joking way, upon its appearance, and asked if he 
intended to wear the coat in the presence of the Governor. Mr. 
Toll saw no reason why he should not do so, as he "was confident 
that the coat was well-lined ;" whereupon his acquaintance bet a 
certain stim that he would not have the nerve to d(^ so. '1 his 
aroused Mr. Toll's sportingd)lo(Kl ; so he said, in the language 
of the day, 'T'll take you." Arriving in New \<.rk a tew days 
before tlic opening of the Legislature, .Mr. Toll called uik.u the 
Governor, without changing his old traveling-coat for one better. 
After the Governor had greeted him. he remarked t.. .Mr. Toll: 
"Your coat seems rather threadbare;" to which Mr. T..11 replied: 
"Yes, your Excellency, but there is a very good lining under it." 
J le then explained to the Governor that the wearing of the coat 
was not the result of disrespect for himself, but of a wager; 
and. turning to the acquaintance who was also present, he 
demande<l the payment of the wager. The Governor was much 



220 Old Si'hcnccfody. 

amused by the incident and before the Legislature adjourned, he 
found that the man who hned the threadl:)are coat was, indeed, a 
very good one. 

Dr. Toll relates an incident whicli well illustrates his great- 
grandfather's shrewdness and the difficult task of "doing"" him ; 
and, at the same time, his generous spirit, when he had obtained 
the better of the man who hoped to "do" hnn. 

A man by the name of iJrazee, who kept a small tavern, met 
Mr. Toll one day, in Schenectady, and hoping to impose upon the 
generosity of a rich man, told Mr. Toll a tale of woe, in regard to 
liis poverty and his need of a milch-cov/ ; ending with the state- 
ment that he did not know^ where he could get a cow, nor how he 
woukl be able to pay for it. Mr. Toll told Brazee not to let that 
worry him for he would see to it that he got a cow and that he 
would put him in the w^ay of easily paying for it. Brazee was 
delighted with his success, for it was like getting money from 
home. 

In a few days, Brazee went to "Maalwyck" and Mr. Toll 
showed him the cows, mentioning the prices for which he would 
sell each one. Brazee picked out a fine cow and started for home 
with it. Mr. Toll too started for Schenectady, and when he reached 
the village, he obtained a writ and a judgment against Hrazee. 
Brazee was not as breezy as when he started with the cow for 
home. He whined and referred to his poverty and told Mr. Toll 
that he expected to be put in the way of easily paying for the 
cow. Mr. Toll replied that making the payment easy, was exactly 
what he was doing. Having got the better of Brazee, by making 
him pay for the cow, and having established the fact that he was 
not as easily worked, as the cow was paid for, he wished, indi- 
rectly, to return the money to Brazee; so he went to his tavern, 
invited the villagers to come in and be his guests. He then 
ordered food and drink, till the cost of his hospitality was con- 
siderably larger than the cost of the cow. 

The vast fertile river-hats and the pasture-land, on the 
highest and oldest of the old river-terraces, became the jiroj^erty 



Toll. 



22] 



of his son. Caj^tain Daniel Toll, after the death of Karel llaensen 
Toll. Tn addition to the lands previously mentioned. Karel Toll 
had i)urchase(l a considerahle jiroperty. then called, and still 
known, as lieiikendaal — or lieech-dale — where, in the ravine — 
which, on accotmt of its nnnierotis j^reat heech-trees. c^ave the 
propertv its name — he was later to he killed 1)\' French Indians. 
Xot French and Indians, as some writers have made it appear, 
but French Indians, that is, Indians of the French possessions in 
Canada. 

This property is charmini^lv located at the foot of the C.len- 
ville hills, near Hardin's crossing, facing south-west. The house 
was situated on the brow of a miniature blufif. In front is fertile 
fiat-land, eight htmdred feet wide: it is. in fact, a little valley, 
running east and west for two or three miles. A little stream 
flows through, the door-yard just to the east of the house — in 
those da}s it was a vigorous stream ; hut now. in the dry season, 
thanks to the cutting off of the timber, it almost disai)pears. 




222 Old Schenectady. 

This stream enters a picturesque gorge, half a mile ahove the 
house, and is frequently broken up into cascades and tumbling, 
rushing rapids. It was on this stream, on the high bank at the 
left of the picture, on the preceding page, that the last permanent 
camp of the Mohawks was situated. \ few of the great pines and 
oaks of a hundred years ago, are still standing and give one a faint 
idea of the beauty of the old forest, with the tumbling stream, 
when Captain Daniel Toll chose Pieukendaal for his home. Captain 
Toll was born in July. 1691, and in Se]itembcr, 1717, he married 
Ciritje, a daughter of v'^amuel .\rentse Dradt, son of the original 
settler of that name, and immediateh' began to l)uild the large 
stone house U])on the site (lescril)ed. .Ml that is left of this fine old 
home are two (lo(jrs and their jambs, one bearing llie im'lials and 
nmierals: "H T. 1717," <-)n the lintel. 




This stone house resembled the English, mure than the 
Dutch style of architecture. It was divided in two by a wide hall, 
passing through the house from front to back, and had Dutch 
half-doors at either entrance. Being on the brow of the blnft', 
there was a basement, containing the kitchen, store-rooms and 



Toll. 223 

several living-rooms, as well finishetl as were ihe rooms above, 
whicli were large, homelike and comt()nal)le. In this house, 
Captain Daniel and his youno- wife lived happily and indnstri- 
(.nsly and became the parents of seven chihlrui— all of whom 
died Itefore 175^). One of the dano-hlers married the lamon- 
Dntch pastor, the Rev. Cornelius \an Santvoord. Captain 
Daniel's wife died in 174.^ and he and his fannlv moved to the 
.second home of the Toll fannlv. at .Maalwvck. This was no 
donl)! chielly ikxu\vi\ upon as being nearer the settlement and 
safe— the French and Indian War beginning in that year. I'our 
years later, in July. 174.^. at the close of the war. Captain Daniel 
Toll was the hrst victim of the r.eukendaal light, .leseribed in 
ano'dier chapter. He left a large estate and an enviable reputa- 
tion, as an inheritance to his son. loliDnnes Toll, whose hie was 
verv short. Johannes was born in August. 1710. i'T the I'.euken- 
daal home. At the age of twenty-three, he married lAe \an 
ratten, and in December. 174^'. when but twentv-seveu years 
.,1(1. he died, survived lyv his wife, and but one child. Karc 
ilaensen. an infant, of ten months. 

This second Karel became i)rominent in the coninunuiy and. 
at Ihe Nouthful age of seventeen, he, as a freeholder, m 17^3. 
,>igned the petition for the charter granted by (Governor Dougan : 
that ciiarter which was the foundation of the ninetv vears of 
law suits, brought by the two Ryer Schennerhorns. grandfather 
.'ind grandson. 

This second Karel Ilaensen in Januarv. 17^)8. married a 
daughter of IMulip Ryley. of .\lbany, brother of James \an Slyck 
Uilev. who was i).)stmaster and associate judge of the Court of 
Common I'leas of Schenectady and was freciuenlly in the service 
of ihr (".overnment. as Indian Commissioner and interpreter, to 
n.g-otiate treaties with the Indians of the far n..rth-we>l. Ik- 
was sheriff of Schenectady County, for many years. 

Karel Toll and his young wife, immediatelv after theu" 
marriage, went to live in the f^ue old stone house on the lUuken- 



224 Old Schenectady. 

(laal property, where they kept open house and were famous for 
tlieir liosptiality during- their long married Hfe of sixtv-four 
years. Mr. Toll was possessed of the family energy and of high 
l)rinciples. Like his name-sake, he was a man of unchanging 




Philip Ryley Silver Tea Set in the Toll House. 

determination ; once his loyalty was given, it remained steadfast 
as a matter of principle. This quality was shown in the days of 
the Revolution. His sympathies were with the rebels, but his 
loyalty to his king, he believed, prevented his taking an active 
part on the side of the colonists. So, while he felt that to take 
up arms against the king would be treason, he believed that it 
was his duty to give his sympathy and what aid lie conscientiously 
could to his rebelling fellow-countrymen. It required a man of 
unusual personal magnetism and of undou1)ted honesty of pur- 
pose to retain the confidence and respect of his Tory friends and 
rebel countrymen ; l)ut this he did and he died at the great age of 
eighty-six years, respected and regretted. 

His admirable wife, Elizabeth Ryley Toll, was a noble 
woman ; her cliaritv and charities made her name lilessed among 
the i)eople. The following incident illustrates her gootlness and. 
at the same time, her high spirit — tempered with gentleness — 
when she felt she had been ill-treated. One autumn, a family was 
drivino- to settle in the far-west. A heavv snow-storm overtook 



Toll. 



.225 



llieni. and when tliev had gone as far on their way as the JJeuken- 
(laal place, the storm was so severe that they could o-o no further. 
The doors of Beukendaal were open to them and in the morning-, 
ii was seen that it would he impossihle for them to contiinie their 
journey. The house was well-filled hy the family; hut Mrs. Toll 
insisted upon their remaining till the weather and track through 
the forest were such that they could continue. Airs. Toll gave 
them possession of the hasement-a])artments and their horses 
were well cared-for in the stables. All this was without remun- 
eration of an\' kind. The family remained through the autumn 
and winter and in the spring, when the conditions for journeying 
became favorable, they started. The great covered wagon was 
drawn up in front of the house. One after another, they mounted 
the wagon, with never a word of appreciation or of thanks for 
llie generous old-time hospitality they had received. As they 
w ere about to start, Mrs. Toll's sense of justice and her righteous 
indignation found vent in the biting but gentle sarcasm of: "Ciood 
l)\e, I thank you for the good you have let me do you." 

.\lthough the French and Indian war was twenty years back, 
in history, when Karel Toll and his wife went to live at lieuken- 
daal, there was still intense dread of Indians; and es])ecially fear- 
some were they to the women, who were generally left alone in 
the house, while their IuisIkuuIs were in the fields or attending to 
other business. There was a well near the house in which .Mrs. 
Toll fre(|uently hid. when alone and when Indians were about; 
and, on man}' occasions, she and lu'r little ones hid in the great 
hay-loft of the barn, while the Indians were ])rowling about 
below. 'J'he well was often shown to her grandchildren by Mrs. 
Toll, when she told them stories of the occasions uixui which she 
bad got into it, to hide and it was regarded by them with awe. 

Karel Haensen and hdi/alnth Ryley Toll were fully aware 
of the necessity for and the advantages of ;i good education; so 
they gave it U) their children. Tluir sons. lohn C. and Philip, 
were both college graduates — the former entering the ministry 



226 Old Schenectady. 

and the latter, the practice of medicine. Phihp. however, became 
smitten with the "Star of Empire," so deeply, that he abandoned 
his profession to follow it. in its westward course and to become 
a pioneer of the far-west — his wife, of course, goin_^ with him. 
Mrs. Toll was a daughter of Judge Isaac DeGraaf, who was also 
a major in the Revolutionary War. It was Judge Toll's son and 
her brother, who provided the means for fitting out Commodore 
McDonough's fleet, in the war of 1812. In fact, Mr. Toll, her 
husband, was also an officer in the War of 18 12. he being captain 
of a company of mounted artillery. Captain Toll's company was 
selected l)y General Wade Hamjiton. for headquarters guard, on 
account of its military excellence and its fine appearance. Isaac 
DeGraaf Toll, a son of Philip Ryley and Nancey DeGraaf Toll, 
was a brilliant and distinguished general m the Mexican War. 
He is still living, at a great age, in the west. 

The Rev. John C. Toll, the elder son of the second Karel 
llaensen Toll, inherited the Beukendaal property. He studied fer 
the church, under the Rev. Dr. Solomon Froeleigh. of Hacken- 
sack. and was ordained a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, 
on January 31. 1802 and. the following year, was called to the 
])astorate of the Dutch Churches of Westerlo and Middletowu, 
where he and his wife, \ancy. daughter of Barcnt Mynderse. of 
Guilderland. lived on the farm that he had i)urchased. tdl 1822. 
They resided there for nineteen happy years, surrounded by their 
friends and their l)ooks and cultivating the farm successfully — 
an abilitw inherited from his forefathers, by Mr. Toll. In 1822, 
the failing health of his father, the second Karel. caused hiiu to 
resign and return to Beukendaal, where his presence was needed. 
On account of failing health — the result of a college-illness. Rev. 
Mr. Toll decided to not ])reach again, regularly. He preached 
in both English and Dutch. 

At Beukendaal. the Reverend and Mrs. Toll passed a 



Toll. 



227 



pleasant, happx life; happy in their home and their chihh-en ; lie, 
tuuliiii;- cong-enial companionship anion" the professors of Union 
College and the pastors of Schenectady. He died in t84() and 
his wife, in 1859. Their son, Philip Ryley Toll, the second of the 
name — he heing named for his uncle the j^hysician who went 
west — inherited Benkendaal, which is still owned by the family. 
niakino- one hundred and eighty-seven years that it has been in 
I lie family. 




Chapter XV. 




SCHERMERliURN. 

r a lime so remote that the "Ancient City" of Schcnec- 

\ latly seems a mere infant in comparison, the village 

"^^ of Schermerliorn, whence came the Schermerhorns of 

Schenectady Connt}', existed and Hourished and had 

its traditions. 

Schermerhorn is located in the Province of North 
Holland and lies Ijetween the dry heds of two lakes 
called, •'lieemter" and "Schermer." These lakes 
were pumped dry in the seventeenth century, prohably 
for agricultural purposes. Before this was done, the chief occu- 
pation of the people of the village was fisliing in these extensive 
lakes. Now the population is agricultural. 

Soon after the advent of the year 1400, the people of Scher- 
merhorn and those of a village across the lakes, were frequently 
involved in disputes of a serious nature. Finally, when the 
difficulties seemed to be amicably settled, the people of Schermer- 
horn were displeased over the interpretation of the agreement 
between the two villages. They were never satisfied with the 
rights they had obtained and were continually "burrowing" in 
t. . the matter in the hope of finding a flaw or, by digging in to the 
subject more deeply, to find a way out of what they beliewd to be 
injustice to them. This habit gave them the nickname of "The 
Burrowers," a designation of which the people were proud, for 
it showed their unwillingness to be treated with injustice, as well 
as their persistence and determmation. To perpetuate the 
memory of this quality, they chose for their emblem a mole, that 
little animal being the greatest of "burrowers." This emblem 
was well known early in the fifteenth century, but it was not 



230 



Old Schenectady. 



Scheneclaclv. but in the State. 



recognized as the coat-of-arms of Schermerhorn, by the High 
Council of the NobiHty, till October, 1817. This High Council 
is a body appointed by the Crown to keep the records of the 
nobility of Holland and to authorize and register coats-of-arms of 
municipalities and of families. 

The chief object of interest in the modern village of Scher- 
merhorn, is the beautiful Dutch Reformed Church that was built 
in 1634. It is of pure Gothic architecture and has very fine 
stained glass windows. The church was renovated in 1894, one 
of the largest contributors to the fund for that purpose being- 
Mr. William Schermerhorn, of New York city. There is a tablet 
set into the wall of the church when it was built, which shows 
the mole as the coat-of-arms of Schermerhorn. This shows a 
shield with a mole, sable, on a natural color, ])robably green. 
The Schermerhorn family is not only one of the oldest in 
Jacob Janse Schermerhorn, the 
first American 
ancestor, came 
while still a 
\oung man, to 
the Dutch pos- 
sessions in the 
New World 
from Waterland, 
Holland, where 
he was born in 1622. He settled in Beverwyck, now Albany 
County, and started in almost immediately as a money maker, 
his occupation being that of brewer and Indian trader. 

His business ability and great prosperity apparently dis- 
pleased and alarmed the Dutch West India Company, so a charge 
was preferred against him of selling arms and ammunition to the 
Indians. It is probable that he did sell to the Indians, for that 
was a part of the trade with them and was nothing more than 
the Dutch Company was doing, the trouble being that that com- 
pany wished to keep all the good things to itself. He was arrested 




Silver Mounted P, 



Schcniicrhoiii. 231 

by order of Governor Stuyvesant in 1648, and imprisoned in 
Fort Amsterdam. All of his papers and books were destroyed 
and he was sentenced to the entire loss of all the wealth which 
his energy and keenness in business had accimnilated and to 
banishment from the Colony for a term of five years. It is quite 
evident from the action taken by them, that his friends and neigh- 
bors regarded his arrest and punishment, for the crime of making 
money rapidly, as unjust, as it really was, for many of the most 
prominent citizens took the matter up. and, although his i)roperty 
was not restored to him, once it got into the hands of the Colonial 
authorities, his term of banishment was remitted, it was then 
that he showed tlie Schcrmerhorn determination — a ([uality which 
was even magnified in some of his descendants — for instead of 
being disheartened, or going to some other place or Colony, he 
remained and began all over again to accumulate a fortune. He 
died in i68y leaving a fortune of $22,000, as much in those days 
as five times the sum would be now. Jrlis death occurred in 
Schenectady where he had lived for several years. ( )f his three 
sons, ivyer, Simon and Jacob, the tirst was tlie only one who 
settled in Schenectady permanently. 

Ryer Schermerhorn (the name in Holland was written, 
Schermer Home) married the widow of Helmer Otten. She was 
Ariaantje l>ratt, of Esopus. Mrs. Otten was possessed of con- 
siderable property, in the Colony and in Holland, from her 
former husband Helmer Otten. As wa.s the custom in those days 
before marrying again, she entered into an agreement with the 
guardians of her children to secure to them their share of their 
father's property. 

Although Ryer Schermerhorn was not one of the ( )riginal 
Fifteen Proprietors of 1662. he was one of the five named in the 
Schenectady Patent of 1684. 

The reason for the patent of 1684 from Governor Dongon 
was this: The Fifteen Original Projirietors had obtained ix)sses- 
sion of the land by deed from the real owners of it. the Mohawk 
Indians and if the Colony had remained in the possession of the 



212 



Old Schenectady. 



Dutch, any further evidence of right to the land might not have 
heen necessary. The Colony, however, passed into the possession 
of Britain and it soon became evident that complications would 
arise in regard to titles, hence, the necessity for a patent. In 1690 
he was a member of the Provincial Assembly and a justice of the 




Pear Tree 150 Years Old 



tit. Daughter of Arent UraJt. 



peace and in 1700, he was appointed assistant Judge of the Court 
of Common Picas, all of which shcnvs that he was a man of affairs 
and occupied a prominent place in the community. When the 
year 1700 opened, Ryer Schermerhorn was the only survivor of 
the five original patentees. He remained as such till 1714 and 
this fact gave rise to a heated contest between himself and the 
])eople of Schenectady, who accused him of acting in an arbitrary 
manner over the affairs of the settlement and of high-handedness 
in refusing to give an account of his domgs to them. 

The patent of Schenectady included about 80,000 acres, the 
affairs of which were absolutely in the control of the five 
patentees and their heirs and successors. In 1700, when Ryer 



Scheniierhont. ^3^ 

Schcrnierh.ji-n was the sole surviving;- i^alcnlcc the people objected 
to being- under tlie control of one man. They said that he 
dispensed of the pul.Uc lands belonging D the village without 
giving any account of the transactions, so they petitioned for a 
new patent in Ucto])er, 1702, which shouUl give them the right to 
elect five trustees to serve three years, who should be required to 
render an accounting of their trust to their successors. This 
]yAWu[ was granted in l-ebruary of the following year and Colonel 
J'cier Schn)ler, John iS. Glen, Adam Vrooman and John Wemp 
were made trustees to serve with Ryer Schermerhorn. I'.ut the 
Schermerhorn determination asserted itself. Ryer utterly disre- 
garded the new patent, claiming to be the sole trustee of the 
village, lie continued to receive the rents and other profits of 
the town and brought suits in the courts in his own name with- 
ont giving any account to the people, l^ven the fact that he was 
suspended 1)v the (Governor made no ditierence with him. He 
ivW l)ack upon the authority of the I'atent of 1684. which was 
really binding notwithstanding the granting of the Patent of 
1703. He knew that the old patent gave to the five trustees, their 
luirs and assigns forever, the control of the land and, as survivor, 
Ik- intended to live up to the rights secured to him in that 
])atent. From the standpoint of Ryer Schermerhorn and l)y pre- 
cedent, he was right. Ihit the germ of that great principle of 
"government of the people by the pec^de for the people" although 
not expressed in words till many years later, was beginning to 
take root, probably without any suspicion of that fact by those 
most interested. 

The people, seeing that the determination of Ryer Schermer- 
horn was based upon solid foundations, petitioned, by two of the 
new trustees, Col. Schuyler and John S. (Vien. for an annual 
election of trustees with a more strict provision reciuiring an 
accounting of their proceedings. This petition was g-ranted and 
a new charter was given in April, 1705. with Ryer Schermer- 
born's name not among the trustees. In 1704 the Governor and 
e'ouncil gave a hearing to Mr. Schermerhorn. . He was suspended 



2T,4 Old Schenectady. 

as a trustee but this mattered little to him. He disregarded the 
action of the Governor and Council, insisted that he was the only 
trustee, and persisted in refusing to render an accounting, so in 
July, 1705, the new trustees began a suit in the Chancery Court 
against him. This suit was the first of a series brought by both 
sides for a period of nearly one hundred years, the second Ryer 
Schermerhorn, a grandson of the first, continuing the contest 
till his death, in 1795, but not one of them was ever finished. 
Ryer brought a counter suit against the trustees John S. Glen, 
Adam Vrooman, Daniel J. Van Antwerp and John l'>. \ an Eps. 
The trustees, weary with the contest, attempted to affect a com- 
]:»romise but without success and an appeal to the Colonial Legis- 
lature also failed to accomplish anything. 

In 1714, Schermerhorn, on October 22 and 22,, by lease and 
release, conveyed his title to William Appel of New York — Appel 
kept a tavern in that city — with the understanding that he, Appel, 
should reconvey the lands to Ryer Schermerhorn, Jan Wenip, 
Johannes Teller, Arent Bradt, and Barent Wemp. This was done 
on the 25th and 26th of the same month and year. To confirm 
this conveyance, Governor Hunter granted the fourth charter, on 
November 14, 1714. This grant was practically the same as that 
of 1684, the townshij) in both patents being granted to Ryer 
Schermerhorn and his associates, their heirs, successors and 
assigns. These conveyances settled for a time the controversy 
over the management of the common lands. 

J" 1750 Jan Schermerhorn, a son of Ryer, who died in 1719, 
claimed that all who were freeholders of Schenectady when the 
Dongan Patent was granted in 1684, had equal title in the com- 
mon lands. This meant that only those would inherit who were 
descerrded from the first settlers in the male line of eldest sons, 
for at this time the law of primogeniture was in force. There 
were, when this claim was set up, but twenty-seven eldest sons 
who were legal heirs. The death of Jan Schermerhorn in 1752, 
before legal action had been brought, ended this claim. 

r>ut this death did not end the contest, for Jan left a son, 



Schcniicrhoni. 235 

another Ryer Schernierliorn, who had ah of the devotion t(j 
purpose and the determination for wliich the family was noted. 
He began suit against Arent Bradt and others as patentees, in 
1755, for his share in the common lands which he claimed were 
his by inheritance from his grandfather, the first Ryer. For 
forty-one years he fought for what he believed to be his rights 
and died in 1795 with the struggle unfinished. So strongly did 
he feel upon the subject that he willed the contest to his heirs 
with the penalty of disinheritance should they fail to continue it. 

This second Ryer retained Judge James Duane, of glorious 
memory, as his attorney. Judge Duane told his client that a 
document in the hands of a man by the name of Appel, living in 
New Vork city, was oi the greatest importance to his case, but 
for it to be of use, it must 1)e in Albany within eight days. 
Between Albany and New Vork was nothing but a wilderness 
with here and there an Indian trail, and the Hudson river. To 
make the journey to New York and back through the woods, in 
eight days, was utterly impossible and the river craft were far loo 
slow. Xo Schermerhorn had yet been beaten by difficidties and 
this member of the family decided that the journey could and 
should be made in one of the light and graceful birchbark canoes 
of the Indians, with his nuiscle and will as the motive power, so 
he started alone, obtained the document and was in Albany again 
before the expiration of the eight days. It is a most unfortunate 
thing for the present generation that Mr. Schermerhorn wrote 
no account of his trip. As he was a man who did things withoiU 
talking about them, one of the most interesting journeys of the 
early days is left to the imagination. 

Another instance of the irresistible will possessed by these 
men, was shown in even a more striking manner by Simon 
Schermerhorn, one of the first Ryer's brothers. Simon and his 
family lived in the village at the time the French and Indians 
destroyed it and butchered the greater portion of its inhabitants, 
that bitterly cold night in the winter of irx>o. Simon was shot 
through the thigh in the fight and realizing that someone nnist 
give the alarm to Albany he mounted a horse and rode pellmell, 



236 Oid Schenectady. 

notwithstanding- tiiat every jolt in the saddle caused the greatest 
agony. He started by the regular path, over what is now the 
Albany turnpike, but when in the neighborhood of the Stan- 
ford place he heard what he supposed to be Indians, so he 
turned off and took the longer way through Niskayuna, fearing 
that his capture or death would delay the carriage of the news 
to Albany so long that help from the fort would be too late. 

The following verses were written by Aaron B. Pratt, of 
Albany, on the historical ride of Simon Schermerhorn, who, 
wounded and suffering from the cold of midwinter, rode to 
Albany, twenty miles, to give the alarm on the night of the 
Massacre. 

Silent and cold old Mohawk's tide 
Swept through the forest, dark and wide. 
When on her bank, amid the wood, 
Schenectady's rude hamlet stood. 

'Twas midnight in that ancient town ; 
The drifting snow was coming down, 
The people all were wrapt in sleep. 
No sentinel there to vigils keep. 

The winter's thick mantle was outspread 
To break the sound of hostile tread. 
And while they slept, no dream of harm, 
Like lightning came the dread alarm, 

More fearful than the shriek of shell 
Broke on the air a savage yell, 
With horror, dread, each Dutchman woke 
To meet alike the deadly stroke. 

lUitchered and brained, consumed by fire. 
The heartless horde wreaked vengeance dire ; 
The French and Indians both allied, 
To spread destruction far and wide. 

No age or sex these demons spared 
But all alike their vengeance shared ; 
Babes in innocence yet unborn, 
Were from the womb imtimely torn. 



Schennerlwrn. 237 

One man there was, oh Dutchman brave! 
Who manag-ed there his hfe to save, 
And means at hand he quickly found 
To spread th'alarm the country rouniL 

He quickly mounts a straying steed 
By fate provided for his need ; 
With ne'er a saddle, bridle, rein. 
The nearest town he seeks to gain. 

He braveh faced the jaws of death 

Its sickening glow and sulphrus breath ; 

And ne'er a rider rode so well 

As rode he through the gate of hell. 

Shot through the thigh, he heeded not, 
The heartless foeman's cruel shot ; 
His wounded steed made bold essay. 
To bear his rider from the fra\-. 

Tho' wounded sore and nearly dead. 
Each nerve he strained and forged ahead ; 
And in the forest dread and drear. 
Rider and horse did disappear. 

Knee deep the snow, and drifting down. 
And twenty miles to nearest town ; 
Old Albany the destined place 
For which our hero made this race. 

Ere morning broke he readied the fort 
And quickly made liis sad report ; 
Cannon took up the wild alarm. 
And warning sent o're field and farm. 

The people all with one accord 

Fell on their knees and thanked the Lord 

That he had sent a spirit brave 

To warning bring, their lives to save. 

Simon vSchermerhorn, our hero's name 
Ne'er filled the sounding trumps of fame: 
Tho' wounded, weak and out of breath, 
He rode this race of life and death. 



238 Old Sdicnectady. 

Eclipsing Sheriden's famous ride, 
To check the battle's bloody tide ; 
Or even that of Paul Revere, 
That roused the Nation's lusty cheer. 



As far as is known these are the only verses on Schermer- 
liorn's ride that have been published. 

While there are several properties now occupied by lineal 
descendants of the original owners, the Schermerhorn family is 
probably unique in that the property has been occupied by the 
family zmthont change of name for 240 years, the present owners 
being of the eighth generation. 

The home of the late Simon J. Schermerhorn. Congressman, 
is charmingly situated ou a terrace a quarter of a mile l)ack from 
the Mohawk river and sixty feet above it. at the foot of a bluff 
rising from the rear of the grounds. The outlook is toward the 
south-east. Over the river bottoms on the south side of the 
Mohawk a fine view of the city of Schenectady is had and on the 
north side of the Mohawk, the view extends over the river bottoms 
including "Maalwyck." the "Camp" and village of Scotia beyond 
to the pretty Glenville hills. A little distance further back from 
the Mohawk, at the foot of the Rotterdam hills, are the residences 
(>f other members of the family. 

Had Congressman Schermerhorn not inherited the character- 
istics of "digging deep" into important matters and of persisting 
in so doing — characteristics inherited from his remarkable ances- 
tors, the two Ryer Schermerhorns. grandfather and grandson, 
which they, in turn, came by naturallv from the village of 
Schermerhorn, in Holland — Schenectady would not now have 
the supply of delicious, pure spring water which it has. These 
wells were dug at the foot of the bluff, near the Mohawk, but this 
was not done till Congressman Schermerhorn had spent con- 
siderable time in an effort to convince skeptical city officials and 
other prominent citizens of the city, that an ample supply of pure 



ScJieniicrhorn. 239 

spring water was waiting" deep down in the ground to make 
Schenectady famous among cities for its une(|ualled supply of 
water. 




SCHERMERHORN-CAMPBELL. 

Daniel Camphell came to Schenectady in 1754, in liis twenty- 
third year, with a tiny cash capital and an immense inherited 
capital, consisting of energy, determination to succeed, honesty 
and business acumen, all characteristics of his Scotch- Irish 
descent. 

Mr. Campbell began his business career with a pack on his 
l)ack as an Indian trader. The excellent ((uality of his goods, 
his industry, economy, and honesty gave him patrons which so 
greatly exceeded his individual efforts that he was soon obliged 
To increase his capacity to handle it and, at the same time, he 
increased his operations. When the Revolution broke out. Mr. 
Campbell was regarded as a man of considerable fortune, .\tter 
the Revolution, he, with James Ellice, John Duncan and James 
Phyn, became one of the greatest merchants and wealthiest men 
of the state. As a merchant in Indian trade, and l)y purchasuig 
'"soldiers' rights", he amassed a great fortune. 

He married .Angelica T.radt. a daughter of Arent S. Bradt 
(or Bratt. as the name was then sometimes spelled) and had one 
son, David Campbell, who was Iwrn in 1768. David died in 
June, i8ot, leaving his property to his father. Daniel Campbell, 



Sclicnncrhorn. 241 

Sr., died in the following- year at the age of seventy-one. One- 
third of his great wealth was left to relatives in Ireland, the 
remainder g^oing absohitely to his wife. 

Mr. Campbell and Sir WilHam Johnson were warm and inti- 
mate friends and upon the occasions when Sir William was in 
Schenectady in the interests of St. George's Church, or on other 
business. Mr. Campbell's house was his home for the time being. 
This house was built for Mr. Campbell by Samuel Fuller, in 1762, 
on the north-east corner of State and Church streets where it 
stands now as solid as the year it was built. There have been 
but few changes made in the house, the chief ones being to the 
roof. In 1771, Mr. Campbell was one of the judges of the Court 
of Common Pleas of Albany County, of which Schenectady was 
then a part. 

Mrs. Campbell, wishing to continue the name in America, 
left all of her great wealth to Daniel D. Schermerhorn on condi- 
tion that he take the name Campbell, which he did later by act of 
the Legislature. Mrs. Campbell died at the age of eighty, in 181 2. 




Chapter XVI. 



T 



YATES HOUSE. 

HE Abraham Yates house, on Union street, nearly 

opposite the Court house, is an excellent exami)le of 

I the substantial buildings erected by well-to-do citizens 

XiX from 1700 to '50. This house was built by Mr. Yates. 

j£j[ about 1730, and is in perfect condition, at the present 

^^^ time. It is in the best and most aristocratic residential 

^^V part of Schenectady. 

^g The Yates family is one of the few Anglo-Saxon 
"99^ families who were among the old settlers. The first of 
the name to come to America, was Joseph Yates, who arrived soon 
after the Colony was delivered to the British, in 1664. He 
worked with M. J. \'an Brommel, in Albany, as a shoemaker. 
He married Hjbertje Van Brommel. Mr. Yates died in 1730, and 
was survived by seven children, one of whom. Rol)ert Yates, 
settled in Schenectady, in 1711, at the age of twenty-three. 
Robert Yates married Greitje C. DeGraaf, of the "Hoek." just 
west of Scotia, where he lived and followed his father's trade. 

He had a village-lot on State street, near Ferry street and a 
rather extensive tannery on the bank of the pond, at the end of 
Ferry street, where it joined Mill lane. He had, also, farm-land 
on the flat, where the General Electric Company's works are, 
which was part of the Van Curler farm. This he bought in 1741. 
He died in 1748, leaving his business to his sons, Joseph and 
Abraham— the latter, selling his interest to the former. 

The men of the Yates family were prominent in the Revolu- 
tion and in the practice of law. Robert, a grandson of the first 
Robert Yates, who settled in Schenectady, in 1711, was born m 
T738, married Jannetje Van Ness, in Albany, in 1765, where he 
remained to practice law. This Robert Yates, an ardent patriot, 



244 Old Schenectady. 

was a member of the Committee of Safety in Revolutionary da\s ; 
a member of the State Constitutional Convention of 1777; of the 
Federal Convention of 1787; and of the State Convention for 
ratifying- the acts of the Convention. He finally attained to the 
distinguished honor of the chief- justiceship of the Supreme Court 
of New York. He died in 1801. His daughter married James 
Fairlee, who was an aid-de-camp to Baron Steuben, in the Revolu- 
tion. His son, John Van Ness Yates, was Secretary of State, 
from i8i8-'26. 

Robert N. Yates, a grandson of the original Yates ancestor, 
was born in 1789. He was lieutenant in the Rifle Regiment in the 
Regular Army in the War of 1812, in which he was killed. 
Christopher Yates, born in 1737, a son of the original Albany 
Yates, was a captain, under Sir William Johnson and a colonel 
in the Revolution. He married in 1761, Jannetje, a daughter of 
Andries Bradt. He died in 1785. Colonel Christopher Yates' 
son, Joseph Yates, was born in 1768. He was the first mayor of 
Schenectady; State Senator, in 1807; judge of the Supreme 
Court, in 1808; and Governor of New York, in i823-'24. He 
died in 1837. Another son of Colonel Yates, Henry Yates, was 
born in 1791. He was a lawyer; State Senator for several terms, 
and a member of tlie Council of Appointment. He died in 1854. 
The Rev. Dr. Andrew Yates, the third son of Colonel Christopher 
Yates, was born in 1773. He was a graduate of Yale College, in 
1793, and studied for the ministry under the Rev. Dr. J. H. 
Livingston and was ordained a minister of the Dutch Reformed 
Church. He was professor of Greek and Latin, in LTnion College, 
in T 797-0 r ; pastor of the East Hartford, Connecticut, Congre- 
gational Church till 1814, when he returned to LTnion and was 
professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy, till 1825. He then, 
accepted the principalship of the Chittenango Polytechnic Insti- 
tute. He died in 1844. Dr. Yates was married twice. His first 
wife was Mary Austin and their son, John A. Yates, was born 
in t8oi. He was professor of Oriental Literature, in LTnion 
College, from 1823 to his death, in 1844. Professor Yates' son, 



Yates. 



245 



J. 15. \'atc.s, was the father of Austin A. Yates, now residing- on 
Washing-ton avenue, Schenectad}-. and of Commander Arthur R. 
Yates, U. S. N. 

Of the several titles to which Austin A. Yates has a right, 
that of "Major" is the most i)o])ular, with his intimates; for it 
was as a soldier that the Yates qualities showed themselves most 
jirominently ; and these were qualities which attracted the affec- 
tions and atlmir- 
a t i o n. Hon. 
Austin A. Yates, 
like his prede- 
c e s s o r s men- 
tioned in this 
article, with one 
exception, was a 
graduate of Un- 
ion College ; he 
studied law and 
was admitted to 
practice ; was 
judge of the 
County Court, 
and Member of 
Assembly. I n 
the Civil War. 
he was captain 
of H. Co., One 
Hundred a n d 
Thirty-f o u r t h 
New York Vol- 
u n t e e r s and, 

later, he was cai)tain of F. Co., I'niled States Veterans. This F. 
Co. was famous as being the one cliosen to have custody of the 
])ersons and charge of the execution, of the assasins of President 
Lincoln, lie was, later, promoted to the rank of brevet-major 




246 Old Schenectady. 

of the U. S. V. and, on April 9, 1898, was commissioned major 
of the Second Regiment, N. Y. N. G., for service in the Spanish- 
American War. 

The youngest son of Colonel Christopher Yates, John B. 
Yates, was born in 1784. This son became the most active man 
of affairs in the military, political and financial interests of his 
State of any member of the family, chiefly because the times 
were propitious for the Yates qualities to appear at the front. 
After being graduated with honors from Union College, he 
studied law in Albany, with his elder brother, Henry, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1805. In the second war with the "old 
country" — speaking from the standpoint of an Anglo-Saxon — he 
raised a large company of horse-artillery and was commissioned 
its captain, by Governor Tompkins. Captain Yates and his com- 
pany served in the campaign of 1813, under General Wade 
Hampton, on the northern frontier of New York. Hampton 
appointed him one of his aids and sent him to relieve Fort Erie, 
where General Brown was bottled-up by a superior force of 
British. After the war, in i8i5-'i6, he went to Congress and 
took as active a part in the civil affairs of the Nation as he had in 
the military affairs. Mr. Yates was possessed of an extensive 
estate and great wealth. In Chittenango, his home, he had two 
thousand acres of land, on which were flour, oil, lime, and saw- 
mills, a woolen factory, stores and a boat-yard with dry-dock, 
where boats were built and overhauled. His pay-roll often had 
one hundred and fifty names upon it. At the time the project for 
the Welland canal came near to expiring, for 
lack of the life-giving qualities of money, Mr. 
Yates stirred up enough enthusiasm, in New 
York and in England, to carry the project to 
completion. He showed his faith in the canal, 
for which he was asking others to subscribe 
money, by investing nearly $150,000 of his 
own. He was the first judge of Madison 
County. His death occurred on his estate in 

Old-time Leather Fire Buciel -,0^f\ 
owned by Hon. A. A. Yates, ^^if^- 




Chapter XVll, 
Educational. 



UNION CLASSICAL LXSTITUTI-:. 




r.UlLDJNC which has sccii more of the ups and 
A downs of Hfe than any other in Schenectady, was that 

■'^^ which the present generation knew as the Union 
Classical Institute, on the corner of Union antl Church 
streets, which was recently sold to the Mohawk club. 
This building- had more endearing associations con- 
nected with it, for the present generation and its 
immediate senior generation, than any other in the city, 
for it was for years tlie scene of scholastic triumphs for 
one thing, and of scores of good-natured dare-diviltry and school- 
boy escapades, which are so dear to the memory of the "old- 
fellows" after they have boys of their own. Besides this, there 
has been more than one love story started in the class rooms of 
this old building which has ended happily in the ceremony pre- 
sided over by the minister. 

The building as shown in the picture, was erected for 
the home of the Mohawk bank in 1820. This occupied the first 
floor, with the upper floors as a residence for the cashier, David 
Hoyd, who was in his day a man well known in banking circles in 
and out of the city, as was the bank's paying teller. V'olney 
Freeman. 

ATr. Boyd was a short, stocky man with sandy hair and florid 
complexion who was wedded to his bank. It was his wife, his 
children ; his work and his recreation, for he was a bachelor, his 
sisters keeping house for him. It was said that he frequently sat 
up the greater part of the night waicliing the bank to see thai 
nothing happened to it or its contents. 



Union Classical Institute. ^49 

The entrance to the bank was on the c.rner; that for the 
residence was on Church street, and h, those days had the dotible 
twisting stairway leading to the entrance hah. The bnikhng was 
soUdly built o£ stone and had in the basement a vault ot n.asonry, 
which was in tts day burglar proof. This vault rentained as 
solid the day the building was turned into a club as .t was the day 

it was built. ' - , 

After the Mohawk bank had occupied the building for several 
years it was decided to ntove to new quarters. The locat.on 
chosen was on State street. When this change was n.ade, 
Chauncey \ibbard, a man whose varied career was tn keeptng 
with the building, purchased tt as a residence. Mr. \ .l>l>ard 
spent a large sum of money in converting the bu.khng mto a 
luxurious home. During his occupancy the bmkliug e,x,K.r,euce. 
the first of its great changes, for Vibbard was a h,gh liver and 
sontethiug of a high flyer a.td although there were no 'beely 
dinners" known in those days, the high-jinks wh.ch took place n, 
the hospitable Vibbard residence would furnish the subject for 
many a modern newspaper sensation. 

One of the largest robberies ever committed in th,s cuy. so 
far as the value of the property stolen is concerned was u, the 
Vibbard mansion. Mr. Vibbard had a house party of st.x vscalth> 
New Yorkers up for a week's sojourn. This fact becante known 
in New York, probably through the society colu.nn of one of t he 
papers, to some clever New York crooks who followeil the par y 
up to Schettectady and one night burglarized the house and stole 
several thousands of dollars worth of jewelry. 

Chauncev Vibbard was a man of strength, who <hd not know 
the meaning 'of failure tmtil the ntore modent and coW-blooded 
methods of railroad financiering, introduced by "« \-"'- "^ 
regime, became the vogue. Vibbard starte.l as a clerk o 
old Schenectady and Utica Railroad: the thtrd oldest n, t, e 
country and the first, with the Mohawk & Hudson, to regularly 
carry passengers, and with that road, was the parent of the present 
,0,1 mile system of the New York Central & Hudson R.ver 



250 Old Schenectady. 

Railroad. Vibbarcl's ability was recognized, and finally he became 
the superintendent of the road. With the advent of Commodore 
Vanderbilt, the Vibbard interests lost a great deal of money and 
eventually, the Vibbard mansion was sold to Edward C. Delevan, 
of Ballston Center, in Saratoga County. Mr. Delevan was promi- 
nent in the cause of temperance in this state and was a warm 
friend of Dr. Eliphalet Nott, the president of Union College, 
whose name, with those of Woolsey and Porter of Yale, McCosh of 
Princeton, and Seely of Amherst, will ever be honored in America. 
Ijut the thing which made Delevan most famous was the fine old 
hotel in Albany which he built, and managed, and which bore his 
name. It used to be said, that more laws were made and more 
political careers cut short in that house than were made or cut 
short up in the capitol. 

It was through the friendship of Dr. Nott for Delevan that 
the latter gave to Union College his large and valuable collections 
of fossils, and of drawings of the human organs showing the 
effects of alcohol. During Mr. Delevan's occupancy of the 
mansion, it was left as Mr. Vibbard arranged it. 

The next change for the famous old building was when it 
was sold by Delevan to William T. Crane, a manufacturer, and 
the diametrical opposite of the two former occupants. Mr. Crane 
was a man of dollars and cents which were made in his large 
knitting mills located near this city. He was a man of some 
prominence and Crane's Village, six miles west of this city on 
the Mohawk, was named in his honor. With the advent of Mr. 
Crane the wine suppers of the Vibbard days and the thoughtful 
company and elegance of the Delevan days, disappeared and only 
their ghosts remained to comfort the building, the spacious rooms 
of which had been the silent witnesses of so much revelry and so 
much of the wisdom which fell from the lips of Dr. Nott and his 
friend Delevan. Mr. Crane lived in the house but a short time, 
when a committee formed for the purpose of separating the "prep." 
school from Union College, bought the building and the U. C. I. 
was born. The building was filled five days of the week, for nine 



The Schenectady Academy. 25I 

months of the year, with the youth and hfe and hope of the boys 
and girls who studied and recited in its rooms. The feehngs of the 
■"old"" boys and girls of the dear old l'. C I. has been well set 
forth in their volume "Memoriani" which was issued just after 
the removal from that building to the elegant new High School 
on Xott Terrace. 

TilK SCflKXECTADV ACADHAIY. 

The Schenectady Academy was the child of the First Dutch 
Reformed Church and was built by the Church. The people 
appreciated the advantages of such an institution. The) gave it 
their patronage and furnished it with a library. The Superin- 
tendent of the building operations was William Schermerlu)rn. 
The building was large, was two stories in height and had two 
large room on both floors. It was built upon the north-west 
corner of Union and Ferry streets. Each pupil paid four shillings 
a year to the Church, and its minister respectively. The four 
shillings paid yearly by each pupil, was devoted to the 
education of such students as could not pay their own way. Jn 
other words, the money was to found what is now called a 
scholarship. 

On April 7, 1785, the Consistory of the Church and twenty- 
seven prominent citizens, met in the tavern kept by Reuben 
Simonds, on Church street, to sign articles of agreement for the 
management and support of the academy. These citizens were 
C. A. V^an Slyck, .Vudries \ an Patten, Joseph Yates, Cornelius 
Vrooman, S. A. Brat, Isaac Ouackenboss, .Abraham Swits, ('■. A. 
Lansing, Daniel Campbell, Claes Van der \ Olgen, Teter \'an 
(jyseling, Ciiristopher Yates, Henry Glen, Abraham Oothout, 
John Richardson, Robert Moyston, William Van Ingen, John 
Glen (by Henry Glen) A1)raham Fonda, Harmanus T>radt (by A. 
Oothout) R. Mynderse. William Mead, Cornelis \'an Dyke, Isaac 
\rooman, Xicholas N'eeder, and the Rev. Dirck Romeyn. 

These names are given, because the twenty-seven were 
practically, the founders of Union College, as the .Vcademy grew 
into that institution. 



^52 



Old Schenectady. 



The first board of trustees was composed of : The Rev. D. 
Romeyn, president ; Dirk Van Ingen, secretary ; Abrahm Oothout, 
treasurer; John Glen, Daniel Campbell, Henry Glen, A. Frey, 
Claes Van der Volgen, John Sanders, Peter \^rooman. B. Dietz. 




In April, 1793, the building was made over to the trustee by 
the Church. In September, 1796, the trustee made over the 
building to the trustees of Union College, that corporation having 
been chartered. The Academy building was sold and the money 
received from the sale was used to erect the first college building. 
This stood on the property now occupied b\ the Union Schcxil. 

UNION COLLEGE AND DR. NOTT. 

xA-lthough Union College had been in existence for nine years 
before Eliphalet Nott, D. D., became its president, the real life 
of the College was so entirely due to Dr. Nott as its president 
for sixty-three years of untiring eft'ort for its good, that the his- 
tory of the institution and the life of the man are almost identical 



Union College and Dr. Nott. 253 

As has been said elsewhere, Schenectady was very early an 
educational center. It possessed ^ood and prosperous schools, of 
a liimli orrade for the times, years before any other colonial settle- 
ment in this part of the Colony. It was these schools which 
resulted in the institution of Union in 1795. That the charter 
for Union College was obtained, was chiefly due to the efforts 
of the Rev. Dr. Dirck Romeyn. who was pastor of the old Dutch 
Reformed Church in Schenectady and that this city was chosen 
as its location, was entirely due to his efforts and those of Cicneral 
Schuvler. 

The immediate parent of Union College was the Academy, 
which was built of stone, in 1785, on the corner of Union and 
Ferry streets, for, in 1795 Union Colleg-e was begun in this 
building and continued in it till 1804. In that year the College 
occupied the fine building which was built for that purpose, on 
Union street where the Union School now stands. This building 
was begun in 1796, but because of a lack of money it was not 
finished till 1804. It was built of stone and cost, with its lot. 
$rx),c)00, which was a large sum in those days. The building was 
three stories high and covered a ground space of 150 by 60 feet. 
It was here where Dr. Nott began his work which placed him on 
a ])ar with the greatest educators of his day. It is a fact that 
Dr. Xott, like so many of Schencctadv's ])rominent men. was a 
New England Yankee. 

The men and women from the "Old Country" who came to 
Connecticut and composed the New Haven and later, the Hart- 
ford Colonies, were of a different stamp from those who had 
settled the older portions of New England. While the settlers 
of the older Xew England Colonies were men of strong character, 
honesty and fearlessness, they were from a more humble class. 
The families which came to Connecticut occupied good, and a 
few high, social positions in the "Old Country" and as a rule 
were i)ossessed of considerable wealth. It was of such stock that 
the Notts came. 



Union College and Dr. Nott. 255 

John Nott, Dr. Nott's first American ancestor, settled in 
Wethersfield, which is now a beautiful suburb of Hartford, Con- 
necticut, in 1640. Sergeant John Nott was a man of note in the 
affairs of the Colony and of the highest social position. Being 
possessed of ample means he was naturally a land owner to a con- 
siderable extent in the Connecticut valley, where the soil is even 
more fertile than are the Mohawk valley flats. In 1665 and for 
several years thereafter, he represented the town of Wethersfield 
in the General Assembly of the Colon} . The two daughters and 
one son, who survived him, all married well, h^lizabeth married 
Robert Reeve, who was the ancestor of Judge Tappan Reeve, the 
founder of the Litchfield Law School : Hannah married John 
Hale and so became the grandmother of one of the Nation's finest 
patriots, Captain Nathan Hale, who grieved because he had but 
t)ne life to sacrifice for the cause and countrv he loved so well, 
but the youngest child, John, is of greatest interest to us as he was 
the great-grandfather of EHphalet. John married a widow, Mrs. 
Faience Miller, on March 28, 1683. They had seven sons and 
two daughters. The youngest of these children, Abraham, was 
born on January 29, 1696, and was the grandfather of EHphalet. 

Abraham Nott was graduated from Yale College with honors 
in the first class to graduate after the College was moved from 
Saybrook to New Haven, in 1720. He then studied for the minis- 
try and was ordained in Saybrook in 1725 and immediately became 
l^astor of the Second Congregational Church of Saybrook. This 
was his first and only pastorate, for it lasted till his death in 1759. 
The Notts were powerful men, physically as well as mentally. 
There is a tradition in Saybrook that he was able to lift a barrel 
of cider and drink from the bung-hole and that no man had ever 
been able to stand against him in wrestling. When Abraham 
Nott died he left four sons; Stephen, born on July 20, 1728, the 
second son, was the father of Dr. Eliphalet Nott, for sixty-three 
years president of ITnion College. 

Besides leaving enviable reputations, the Notts had left con- 
siderable fortunes, as they were thrifty and possessed of good 



256 Old Schenectady. 

business instincts which enabled them to increase that which was 
inherited, but Stephen, the father of Dr. Nott, seemed to lack 
these qualities or was the victim of what in these days would be 
called a "hoodoo." 

Stephen received a good common school education and was 
regarded as a man of intelligence, but his life was a dismal failure 
and a continuation of struggles against misfortune, each of which 
left the family worse off than it was before. At the age of twenty- 
one, in 1749, he opened a store in Saybrook, with a considerable 
capital at his command and with bright prospects. He married 
a daughter of Samuel Selden. of Lyme, and Deborah Selden Nott 
became the sustaining power of her unfortunate husband and the 
inspiration of her famous son. Dr. Eliphalet Nott. Deborah was 
but seventeen at the time of her marriage and was considered to 
be as lovely in spirit and mind as she was in person. There was 
something odd about Stephen and from written history and tradi- 
tion it would almost seem that his associates in business did not 
regard him as being any too scrupulous. At any rate, they pushed 
him so hard, as one misfortune after another crippled him, that 
he was driven to the wall financially and was forced to remain in 
hiding to avoid incarceration in the debtors' prison. It is quite 
evident that Dr. Nott inherited the characteristics of his grand- 
fathers on the Nott side of the house, and of his mother who 
proved herself a heroine under adversity, rather than from his 
father. 

For ten years nothing serious happened to Stephen and then, 
in 1759, his home and the greater part of its contents were burned. 
Samuel, a boy of five years was barely rescued by his mother and 
a minister who was a guest of the family was also rescued with 
difficulty. The friends and neighbors showed the spirit of those 
days by helping Stephen to rebuild. Stephen's business was the 
trading of "store goods" for horses. When a herd had been col- 
lected, they were driven to New Jersey and sold. Within a 
year from the burning of his home, while on his way back from 
New Jersey, where he had received a large sum of money frgm 



Uiiioti Collate and Dr. Nott. 



257 



the sale of his horses he was waylaid, knocked from his horse and 
every penny of the large sum he was carrying in his saddlebags 
was stolen. Hither Stephen had not l)cen successful in his busi- 
ness u]) to this time, or he was extravagant, for he was depending 
upon the money stolen from him to meet his obligations to his 
creditors. They showed an unwillingness to wait, so his property 
was seized and his arrest was ordered. Stephen escaped the 
debtors' ])rison for several months by leaving his home. Finally, 
when he returned, he was arrested and \n\\. in jail, but a special 
act, soon after passed in regard to poor debtors, released him. 

Stephen Nott and his family then moved to East Haddam, 
where he purchased a small place on credit through the kind 
offices of a relative and started in the tanning business, which he 
had learned in his youth. East Haddam was an out of the way 
place, the business was very small, but the struggle with poverty 
was very great. Here it was that the grand qualities of his wife, 
Deborah, were shown. There were long periods, while Stephen 
was ill, when her work was the support of the family. In addi- 
tion to her work she educated the children as there was no school 
within reaching distance. After a struggle lasting several years 
the family moved to Foxtown on!} to continue the struggle. In 
1772. sixty acres of waste land were exchanged for the Foxtown 
])]ace in the Town of Ashford. about thirty miles from Hartford, 
in Windliam County. On this rock-strewn barren land was a 
poor little house in which Eliphalet was born on June 25, 1773. 

The childhood of Eliphalet was not particularly different 
from that of other boys of poor parents, except that the habit of 
giving a verbal report of the hour-long sermons to his mother, 
whose lack of health kept her much at home, made him more 
serious than children of his age would naturally be and laid the 
foundation for the wonderful memory which exhibited itself in 
later years and for the unusual power of mental application. A 
sermon which was ])reached by the Baptist pastor of the church 
where he sometimes attended, it being near home, while the Con- 
gregational Church was several miles distant, caused him to tear 



258 Old Schenectady. 

up a iiew-fan,2^1ed headdress belonging to one of his sisters, 
because the preacher had denounced that kind of head-gear as an 
invention of the devil. However good his motive may have been, 
his sister and mother saw it in a dift'erent light and Eliphalet was 
spanked. 

At the age of eight, he passed a winter in Hartland with a 
married sister and in the spring he went to his elder brother 
Samuel, who was pastor of the Congregational Church in Frank- 
lin, Connecticut. The Rev. Sanuiel was a typical Congregational- 
Connecticut minister of that period; good. just, faithful, but with 
no more conception of the joyousness of childhood and youth 
than an oyster has of music, so little Eliphalet decided, after t\yo 
years of restraint and repression, to run away to sea. He was 
persuaded to give up the idea and to return to his home, to con- 
tinue his studies with his mother, till her death. 

When fourteen, be began the study of medicine with the local 
physician. Dr. Palmer, l)ut his first experience at a surgical 
operation ])roved his unfitness for the profession, he l)eing over- 
come by the sight of blood and the suii'ering. and soon after he 
gave it up. ()n October 24. 1778. his mother died. Besides the 
relationship of parent and child, Klii)halet and his mother were 
confidential friends and companions anil, as the great educator 
said in after life: "Whatever I am is due to my mother." 

Soon after the death of his mother, Fdi])halet returned to his 
l)rother Sanuiel's home to continue his studies and, in the mean- 
time, he helped support himself by teaching in Franklin and the 
vicinit}' schools. His success as a teacher was so notable that he 
was api)ointed to the principalship of the Plainfield Academy 
before he was twenty years old. It was in this school that he 
conceived that peculiar system of government which many years 
later was applied with such great success in Union College. This 
system was based upon an intimate feeling of good will and 
afifection between the master and pupils ; self respect on the part 
of the puj^ils and veneration for tlie institution of which they 



Union College and Dr. Nott. 259 

v.ere members. The Plainfield Academy was one of the best 
schools in Connecticut and included several hundred pupils of 
both sexes. 

While teaching: in the Academy, he had continued his studies 
for the purpose of taking a degree at Brown University and for 
future studies for the ministry. He took the senior examinations 
at Brown in the autumn of 1795, and passed, but as he had not 
been regularly connected with the college classes and so could 
not receive the usual diploma, he was g-iven a testimonial and an 
honorar\ A. ^^1. He was examined by the New London County 
Association and was licensed to preach on June 26, 1796. Several 
attempts were made to induce him to settle in a parish in Con- 
necticut, but he refused, his belief being that he could accomplish 
more g-ood in the thinly settled portion of New York west of the 
Hudson. He obtained a roving commission from the Domestic 
Missionary Society of Connecticut as missionary in New York. 
On July 4. 1796. he married Maria, the eldest daughter of the 
Rev. Dr. Joel Benedict, minister of the Congregational Church 
of Plainfield and then started on his journey to the wilderness 
of New York, leaving his bride in the home of her father till he 
had made a home for her. 

His journey took him to Hartford, Springfield and thin l<> 
Albany where he encountered that suspicion of strangers which 
was peculiar to the Dutch and which is met with to-day in the 
more temi)ered form of an utter disregard of any social obligation 
on their ])arts toward persons, not of Dutch descent, residing 
among them. He arrived in .\lbany late and stayed at a tavern 
kept by a Dutchman who could not speak iMiglish and, as his 
guest could lujt speak Dutch, he naturally took il for granted 
that Dr. Nott was a suspicious character, so he locked him in his 
room and kept him in it till he saw fit to let him out in the 
morning. 

Dr. Nott's destination was a little way beyond Cherry \'alley, 
but he was called back to that village by the Presbyterian Church, 
and two months from the day he first saw Cherry Y'aWqx he was 



26o 



Old Schenectady. 



its pastor. There he Hved for ahout two years, his wife having 
joined him. Besides the duties of pastor he had those of teacher 
too, for it was impossible for him to Uve anywhere without 
following this loved calling for which he was so eminently fitted. 
He was loved and resi)ecied l)y the parents and children and his 
wife held an equal place in their hearts and esteem. Mrs. Nott 
was possessed of a joyous disposition and unusual refinement 
and cultivation of mind, which attracted all classes and conditions 
of persons. Slie entered heart and mind into her husband's work 
and also devoted herself to the ])eople oi his church. Mrs. Xott's 
health became imi^aired to such an extent, that in 1798 she was 
taken to Ballston Springs to take the waters, which were even 
then celebrated for their beneficial qualities. Her strength was 
restored but she did not return to Cherry Valley, for her husband 
was called to the ])astorate of the First Presbyterian Church, of 




Dr. Xotls Hat and Cane 



Albany. Dr. Nott accepted and was ordained liy the Presbytery, 
on October 13, 1798. He was installed at the same time, Presi- 
dent John Blair Smith of Union College, preaching the sermon. 
While pastor of this church he was elected a trustee of Union 
College. Dr. Nott was a prime mover in the founding of the 



Union Colic i^c and Dr. Matt. 



261 



Albany Academy in 1813, tlie buildiny of which was begun in 
1815 and finished in 1817 at an expense of $100,000. In 1804 
Airs. Nott's heahh again became impaired and again she was 
taken to Ballston in the hope of a cure, but without avail, her 
death occurring on March i i, 1804. Three years later, on August 
3, 1807, Dr. Xott married the widow of Benjamin Tiljbetts, of 
'JVoy. 

One of Dr. Xott's greatest public addresses, prol)ably the 
greatest, was delivered in the old North Dutch Church in Albany . 
on the death of Alexander Hamilton, as the result of his duel 
with Aaron Burr. It was in the summer, after the delivery of 
this sermon, that he was invited to 1)ecome president of Union 
College. After giving the subject careful consideration and ol)- 
taining the advice of friends upon whose disinterestedness he 
could depend, he accepted on September 14, 1804. 




In 1804 there were forty students in the college; the largest 
graduating class numbering seventeen. This was in 1803 and 
there was no increase till 1808 when there were eighteen who 
were graduated. In that year the growth of the college under 
the new president began, for in 1809 there were one hundred 
students in the four classes and twenty-nine were graduated. In 
1813 there were more than two hundred students in the college 



262 Old Schenectady. 

and forty-six received diplomas. The system of raising money 
by means of lotteries for the College, which was greatly in need 
of money in 1805, was adopted by the College, by act of the 
Legislature. This system was not regarded in any other than a 
perfectly natural way of obtaining the desired end. In fact, it 
was a popular method with churches as well as with educational 
institutions and municipalities. It was not till lotteries became a 
source of private profit that the law makers discovered that they 
were naughty. 

As an educator, Dr. Nott was broad in his ideas of instruc- 
tion as well as of discipline. In regard to discipline, he held in 
contempt the spirit which prompted the majestic judicial sittings 
of the faculty to investigate an infraction, by an undergraduate, 
of one of the many college rules or regulations, with their 
resultant fines, suspensions or expulsions, should the culprit be 
convicted of following the instincts of joyous youth to such an 
extent as to violate anything so awful in its importance, as a rule 
of the faculty. Dr. Nott felt that the faculty of a college would 
be much l)etter employed if imparting instruction in the class- 
room than in spending hours, and sometimes days, investigating 
as to the hour when a student had put out his light ; retired ; 
arisen ; or possibly the commission of so heinous a crime as the 
-punching of a "townie's" head. 

As a temperance reformer he was actually what that word 
implies — temperate in his methods of getting rid of the evil — for 
he was opposed to forcing reform in the use of alcoholic 
beverages beyond the point for which society was prepared, but 
at the same time, he believed it the duty of temperance people to 
never miss an opportunity for educating society up to the point of 
total abstenance. 

As a man, he was possessed of a powerful jjhysique ; a happy 
disposition ; a love of nature and the companionship of his fellow 
men. That he was determined to do that which he believed he 
should do, in opposition to the most flattering temptations, was 
shown by his repeated refusals to accept offers, far more lucra- 



Union Collate and Dr. Nott. 



263 



tive and more desirable from a social standpoint, from churches 
in New York, Lioston. Philadelphia and iVlbany. He believed 
that his work was in Schenectady as ])resident of Union Collei^e ; 
neither money nor social advantages counted with him. 

Dr. .\()tt was a companionable man who delighted in excur- 
sions with the undergraduates and his interest in their sports was 
as great as it was in their character building and education. Like 
W'oolsey. Porter and Dana, of ^'ale. and 13r. Holmes, he never 
grew old except in body, his spirit and love remained youthful 
and great to the day, when, overcome l)y the weight of years well 
spent, he was graduated from the Unviersity of the World intcj 
Eternity with the God he loved and served so faithfully with 
the Divine degree of: "Well done thou good and faithful servant." 

His birth into the reward he had earned occurred on January 
29, 1866, at the great age of ninety-three. 

The subject of Dr. Xott would not be comjilete without some- 
thing being said about Moses X'iney, who, 
born a slave, lived the life of a Alan and 
Christian ; the loved servant and companion 
of Dr. Xott, who in turn was loved by Moses 
as no otlier man loved him, for it was the 
great educator, orator, philanthropist and 
greater Christian, who received the fugitive 
slave, paid the price of his servitude, gave him 
his manhood, treated him as he treated all 
men, with the added afifection which Moses" 
devotion and fine qualities called forth. 

Moses \'ine\' was born in Talbot Count\, 
Aiaryland, on March 10, 1817, one of a famih 
of twenty-one children. His master, William 
Murphy, gave him to his little son, Richard, 
who was a \'ear older than .Moses, lie was 
treated with great kindness by the Mur])hy 
famil}-, so it was the possession of the higher 
qualities and ambition which caused Moses to 

■' ' </ bv Dr. Satt. 




2b4 Old Schenectady. 

run away, rather than harsh treatment. His passionate desire to 
be a citizen and cease to be a chattel caused him to determine upon 
death rather than capture. 

Moses and two companions had received permission to go to 
a neighboring settlement on Easter morning, 1838. The day of 
their start seemed to be propitious, for good fortune attended 
them all the way to freedom. They traveled as they could till 
they reached Philadelphia, where "Bishop" Wyman sheltered 
them and obtained for them assistance from Abulitionist friends 
who sent them to Troy, New York, to a friend who lived in that 
city. 

Moses was unable to find the Trojan, so he went to Schenec- 
tady and was employed for a brief time by Dr. Fonda, on his 




farm, and soon after he was hired by Dr. Nott. When the "Fugi- 
tive Slave Law" went into efifect, in 1850, Moses went to Canada 
for two years, upon the advice of Dr. Nott, who finally succeeded 
in purchasing his freedom, and Moses returned to Schenectady 
and remained with Dr. Nott till his death. He was the doctor's 
faithful nurse during his last illness and was at his bedside, the 
last person to speak to him before the end came. 



Union College and Dr. .\^ott. 265 

Moses is still living and liis eiglU\ -L'ight years are nol heavy 
upon him. His mind, sight and hearing arc as good as ever, his 
memory is wonderful and his luqjpy, cheertnl disposition is ins])ir- 
ing. He was always thrifty and after Dr. Xott's death he bought 
a horse and carriage and was in such demand by the old families 
of the city that he accunuilaled sufficient money to n)akc him 
independent now in old age. 

Besides driving Dr. Xotl al)ont in liis famcms three-wheeled 
chariot, Moses was very well known 1)\ the students, for when 
Dr. Nott wished to "see one of them in the ]il)rar\," it was .Moses 
who took the message and sometimes brought back the student. 




Chapter XVUl 




HOTELS. 
CHENECTADY'S first house of entertainment for 

Sman and beast was the inn kept hy Douw Aukes in 
1663. Its location was on the south corner of State 
street and Mill lane. 

In 1671 there were two inns in the villag:e ; one was 
kept by J C. Van Slyck, a son of that Van Slyck who 
married a daughter of a Mohawk chief ; and the other, 
by C. C. Viele, was the same as the one kept by Aukes 
in 1663. Aukes married the granddaughter of \ lele. 
Either the license was in the name of the older man Viele m 
1671 or else Aukes had given up the business and Viele was the 
inn-keeper in 1671. There was sharp rivalry between the two 
inn-keepers for, besides selling ^fire-water- they acted as inter- 
preters and Indian traders. Schenectady being a frontier post, 
he business of keeping an inn was an important and lucratn^ 
one for, when a thirsty Indian would ''swap- a belt worth pounds 
for a bottle of rum worth shillings, the balance on the ledger 
was all in favor of the inn-keeper. 

The next house of entertainment was Clenche s 1 avern. also 
on the square. This was the original inn kept by Aukes. I he 
building was spared by the Indians during the "----';";;; 
regard for Van Slyck, but was destroyed by the great fire of 189. 
The most notable event in the history of this tavern was the 
reception and banquet given in honor of General Washington and 
four officers of Washington's army. In June, 1782, Washington 
was in Albany on business connected with the war and the oppo - 
tunity of getting him to visit Schenectady was too good ^^ ^ 
lost, so an invitation was sent and accepted. Me and (.eneial 
Philip Schuvler drove over from Albany on June 30. l^ey wcie 



Hotels. 269 

,q;ivcn a very formal and diji^nified reception by the military and 
civil authorities and then the banquet was served in the tavern 
kept l)y his old comrad in arms, Riibert Clench. Clench was a 
drum-major in Braddock's army at Brandy wine and Fort 
Duquesne at the same time that Washington — whose advice Brad- 
dock disres?arded and so, was forced to accept defeat— was filling 
the imi)ortant post of scout. Washington and Clench became 
intimate in their old army days and the latter's ])leasure over the 
high ]W5ition attained by his former companion in arms, and with 
the renewal of friendship, was unboimded. The Clenches in 
I'jigland and later in the CoU)nies and young Xation, were ])ersons 
of mark in official and social affairs and the faniil\- was possessed 
of wealth. 

Besides the military and civil authorities of Schenectady and 
men who were prominent in business and professional life, there 
were with Washington and Schuyler, Col. Frederick X'isscher and 
Col. Abraham Wemple. To give especial honor to C olonel 
Visscher, who was in command of a regiment at the battle of 
()riskany, Washington caused him to be seated on his right. An 
address was made to \A'ashington to whicli he wrote a l)rief and 
vigorous reply. 

Robert Clenche's son, Thomas 11. C'lench, continued the occu- 
])ation of his father. His first hotel was the P.tadt building. .\o. 
7 State street. Then he kei)t Clenche's Hotel further u]) State 
street, which was later called the Sharratt Hotel. This famous 
old house stood on the site of the present Myers building on the 
Xorth side of State street, the second building West of the canal. 
The Sharrat House was an old fashioned, low-studded building 
with the great timbers showing in the ceilings as was customary 
in old days. It was built of brick whitewashed on the oiUside. 
Tt was a first-class country tavern and very jxiptdar with the 
farmers of the county. It was kept by several men after the 
death of T. B. Clench, in i<S3o. In later days there was a sign 
in front of the house bearing the legend: "The Myer's House 
yard is Open Free, for Farmers, by Peter Magee." This was the 










w 



PI 



Hotels. 271 

hotel on Liberty street the entrance for teams l)eing through the 
Sharrat House yard. 

The Givens House was the most pretentious hotel in Schenec- 
tady and its location was the result of a heated contest between 
Mr. Givens and the merchants of lower State street. 

About 1835, when the Schenectady and Utica Railroad was 
to be started, the people of the west end of the city, down Church 
street and Washington avenue way, wanted this road to follow the 
course through the city of the old Saratoga Railroad, which was up 
Railroad street, under State and Union streets wliere the County 
Clerk's office is, to the bridge across the river. Mr. Givens desired 
the company to run its tracks just where they are now, for he 
owned property there and wished to erect a hotel by the station. 
The fight was bitterly fought and triumj^hantly won by Mr. 
Givens. He then erected the fine hotel, shown in the rei)roduc- 
tion of the architect's drawing of the railroad station, as it was 
first built. 

The plan of the station was fine and the appearance dignified 
and impressive. The building across the tracks from the Givens 
House was later known as the Drullard House. It will be seen 
that both houses were coimected wdth the station l)y a covered 
walk. The l)uilding, which was later the Drullard House, occu- 
pied the site of the Delaware and Hudson Kailroad's tracks. The 
])resent corner, the site of Reynold's drug store, would be to the 
right of the Drullard House, where it is shown in the picture. The 
station and Givens House were burned in the winter of 1842-43 
]\[r. Givens imnicdiateh' rebin'lt the house shown in the othei 
picture, which was later pulled down to make room for the Kdi 
son Hotel. 



Chapter XIX. 
Reminiscences. 



TOM HARMON. 

BOUT sixty years ago, when the puhHc hay market 
4 and scales were on tlie north-west corner of Union 

^^-^^ and Ferry streets, Tom Harmon, at one time a hrilhant 
lawyer, who surrendered to the subtile power of King- 
Alcohol, and so became reduced to gladly serving as 
weigh-master, was anxiously watching the approach 
of a load of hay, to be weighed upon the scales. His 
interest was not caused by official enthusiasm nor In- 
curiosity in regard to the weight of the hay, but by 
the fact that, being "temporarily embarrassed," he had not yet 
absorbed his regular matutinal beverage. He knew that the six- 
pence, to be paid by the man in charge of the hay, would purchase 
a drink of whiskey. Oxen are proverbially slow; but this team 
seemed to creep. After Mr. Harmon had paced back and forth 
across the platform of the scales, for some tinie, he removed his 
hat, wiped the nioisture from his forehead, and remarked to Mr. 
Joseph Carley, then a little boy; "My God Joe, how slow a thing 




"BILL" ANTHONY. 

Reference has been made to the decidedl\- warm contests 
which took place in the B.oard of Supervisors and this suggests 
••r.iir" Anthony, the political l)oss of the Second Ward, a ward 
which has been famous for many years as the home-ward of 
I'olitical bosses. 

"I '.ill" Anthony was a Imtrl kt'cper at the corner of Ferry 
and Liberlv streets, where \<vi\ .\len"s Hall now stands. .\t the 



274 Old Schenectady. 

rear of the hotel, occupying the second floor of the huilding on 
Liberty street, was Anthony's Hall which was the only theatre 
in the city for many years, and the hall where the fashionable 
balls of the city were given, but more important still was the fact 
that it was political headquarters for the city and county. In 
the hall political meetings took place and in "Bill's" sanctum 
deals were made and schemes of a political nature hatched. 

At this time there were five supervisors representing the city 
wards and five representing the five towns of the County. The 
one ambition of the city supervisors was to prevent the country 
supervisors from obtaining that which they wanted, and the 
energy of the country supervisors was exerted to block the efforts 
of the city supervisors. It made little difference what came up 
for consideration, it was surely opposed by the side which did 
not propose it, the towns pulling together without regard to party, 
but the chief point of contention was the equalization of taxes. 
The city tried to shove off a portion of its taxes upon the towns 
and the towns tried to make the city pay more of the county tax 
than was its share. 

In those days, instead of there being city tax assessors, each 
ward had its assessors just as the towns do now and it was this 
fact which "Bill" Anthony used to keep himself in power. The 
taxes in the Second Ward were always the lowest in the city, 
thanks to the manner in which Anthony arranged things and this, 
of course, made the voters of that ward stick to "Bill" as closely 
as the modern office seeker sticks to the donor of patronage. With 
ten members in the board, the five city supervisors were able to 
block any action proposed and greatly desired by the country mem- 
bers. At that time, the greed for graft was not so prominent as it 
is now. The desire to control and to stand well with their constitu- 
ents was the chief aim. The city supervisors were jealous of 
Anthony and the country supervisors took advantage of this to 
obtain control of the board when matters dear to their hearts came 
up. A deal was made with "Bill" that he should support the 
country members and that they should vote with him in city 



Reminiscences. 275 

matters. This worked successfully and only added strenofth to 
the enmity between the City and Towns. 

One day, while the board was e(iualizing, the country super- 
visors, fearing- the city bunch would offer and carry a certain 
resolution which would be objectionable, a scheme was evolved 
whereby the necessary quorum might be eliminated so that the 
resolution could not be voted upon. One of the members from 
the country asked to be excused. The chairman, then as now, 
desiring nothing better than to be "popular" with the members, 
readily granted the request. Soon, another member made a 
similar request. The late Charles P. Sanders, then a member of 
the board, was making a bluff at working on the books for 
equalization. When this second request to be excused was made, 
by prearrangement, he addressed the chair and said, that as the 
noise and confusion was so great the work of equalizing was 
interrupted and he would move that any member could be excused 
who wished to be. (The Board of Supervisors met at that time 
in the present Grand Jury room in the Court House.) The motion 
was carried and the country members started for the door, some 
of them getting out before the late Alexander Thompson, seeing 
through the scheme, locked it. 

Mr. Sanders objected to any business being done behind 
locked doors. He and Supervisor McMillan started toward the 
door to unlock it and Mr. Thompson tried to prevent them. Mr. 
McMillan was a very tall and powerful man, so the "wrestle" 
for possession of the door was somewhat strenuous. In the heat 
of the contest Mr. Thompson called Mr. McMillan "a country 
calf." Mr. McMillan said : "You dare to call me a 'country calf.' 
I'll show you, you're going out of that window" — that window 
being twenty-five feet from the ground. He gathered Mr. 
Thompson up by the collar of his coat and the loosest portion of 
his trousers and swung him toward the window, declaring he'd 
throw him out if it killed him. Of course the other members in 
the room prevented it, but the incident shows that the supervisors 
did something more in those days than smoke cigars and relate 
funnv stories. 



276 Old Schenectady. 

SERGEANT ROONEY. 

Sergeant Rooney was one of those delightfnl Irish characters, 
who keep the heart warm and faith in human nature ahve. He 
was as keen, as faithful to his duty ; as witty and warm-hearted 
as generous and fearless. 

One day a citizen complained at police headquarters that 
such a thing as a policeman was never seen in the part of the city 
where he resided ; that, while that part of the city was orderly 
and seldom needed the presence of a policeman, he and the other 
tax payers, who helped support the police department, w^ould like 
to see one around occasionally. Sergeant Rooney, with tightly 
shut lips and wide-open ears, took it all in and mentally vowed 
that ]\Ir. Blank should soon be treated to the sight that he and 
the other tax payers craved. At eleven o'clock that night, Mr. 
Blank was aroused by a jangling at the door bell and a thumping 
on the door. He opened the window and in a sleepy voice, 
demanded to know who it was and what was the matter. 
Sergeant Rooney looked up and replied, "Oh, nothing much. I 
only wanted you to know^ there is a policeman to be seen in this 
part of the city. At tweh'e o'clock. Sergeant Rooney returned 
and repeated the performance ; and this time. Air. Blank requested 
the sergeant to go to that place which the Rev. Jonathan Edwards 
declared was paved with infants' skulls. He then returned to 
sleep, but was aw^akened each successive hour, till sunrise, when 
the sergeant went home, satisfied that the value of policemen in 
Mr. Blank's part of the city, w^ould fall w^ay below par. 



THE FIRST PRIZE FICxHT. 

Tlie first prize fight of the Alohawk valley took place near 
the home of Sir William Johnson about 1765. Sir William had 
in his employ a large, ham-fisted Irishman named McCarthy, 
who was noted as the "champeen" bare-knuckle fighter of 
western New York. Sir William offered to back his big Irishman 



Reminiscences. 2"]"] 

against any man with sufficient courage to stand up against him. 
Major Jillis Fonda hearing of the challenge, felt his sporting 
blood begin to flow rapidly and, loo, he believed that a "Van" 
was as go(jd as a "2\ic"" with his mauleys any day of the week or 
month. Major Fonda traveled forty miles to see John Van Loon, 
a \ery large and muscular Dutchman, to lay the case before 
In'm. \'an Loon agreed for a ten pound note, to make the big 
Irishman cat dirt. A large number of the sporting gentry met to 
witness the fight. Pat swaggered about, trailing the tails of his 
coat for some one to tread upon. In fact he boasted and talked 
just as much and as long as the twentieth century fighter does, 
while Van Loon stood by thinking ponderous Dutch thoughts in 
the Hollandish language. The ring w^as formed and the fight 
l)egan without that chief of fakirs, the modern referee, to sell his 
decision and spoil the sjjort. Pat fought well for a time, but 
gradually that Dutchman did things to him which were real rude 
and unkind. Pat ate dirt and was pounded into pulp between 
mouthfuls. Although history does not go further, it is probable 
that Pat gave up fighting, opened a saloon on the distiller's money 
and became a ward politician. 



"BILLY" VAN HURNE AND THE COP. 

When William J. \"an Home was mayor of Schenectady, 
there was one policeman of whom he was not certain. He wished 
to ascertain from personal knowledge, derived from experiment, 
just what this policeman, whose name was Wemple, would do, 
when a prisoner put up a fight. In imitation of that other wise 
man, of the East, Haroun Al Raschid, Mayor Van Home dis- 
guised himself as a tough character, and, when he saw Wemple 
approaching, began to cut up "didoes" on the sidewalk near Van 
Home hall. Officer Wemple remonstrated and ordered the 
amateur tough to move on. Instead of desisting and moving, the 
tough "sassed" the officer, and when Wemple took hold of the 
tough, he resisted ; whereupon Wemple knocked him down, ham- 



27S Old Schenectady. 

mered him into submission and started for the station house with 
him. Mayor Van home was satisfied that Officer Wemple was 
all right; so he declared himself to Wemple. This irritated 
Wemple who hustled the Mayor along- all the faster, while the 
Mayor continued to protest; "It's all right, I tell you. I'm the 
mayor, I'm Billy Van Home. Let go, I tell you." He was taken 
to the station house and it was not till his disguise was removed, 
that his protestations of being "Billy Van Home, the mayor," 
were found to be fact. 



MEANING OF "DORP" AND "CAMP." 

All new arrivals in Schenectady hear and see in print the 
word Dorp used for Schenectady and many are curious in regard 
to its origin and meaning. Dorp is simply a Dutch word meaning 
"village." Schenectady has been called "The Village" for more 
than 200 years. 

While nearly everybody in Schenectady knows that the 
land along the Mohawk river and the river road, or Mohawk 
turnpike, extending from near the Sanders mansion to the 
neighborhood of old Maalwyck, or the Toll place, is called "The 
Camp," but very few know why it is so called. In 1759 two 
Highland regiments under General Prideaux encamped upon the 
land between the Mohawk turnpike and the river for the purpose 
of keeping his soldiers from the temptations and gay life of 
Schenectady. The word, "camp," in time included all the land 
between the actual site of Prideaux* camp north to the "high 
bank." There is a popular belief that it was so called because the 
Indians encamped upon it, but this is not a fallacy. 



SHOPPING IN 1700. 

The stores of the Seventeenth and the first half of the 
Eighteenth centuries were very simple and primitive afifairs and 
the storekeeper frequently had other occupations. The store was 



Reminiscences. 279 

usually the front room of the proprietor's dwelling and the pur- 
chases were generally made at the front door or in the hallway, 
the customer seldom entering the room where the goods were 
kept. In the very early days the wheat and other salable products 
of the up-river farms, were brought to Schenectady in canoes 
and traded with the storekeepers for such goods and simple 
groceries as were in demand in those days. The Indian brotight 
his stuff in the same manner. They brought, chiefly, fur pelts 
and occasionally a deer or bear cub which the settlers bought for 
fresh meat. As time went on and the products of the farms 
became larger, the wheat would be kept till the winter and then 
it would be brought to town on sleds. It was stored with the 
storekeeper who sold it to the best advantage in the spring, giving 
the farmer credit for the sale, less the commission, and the farmer 
would usually trade it out. There were not many money sales in 
those days at the stores. As a rule the people raised and fattened 
their own pork and beef, but in the case of persons who did not 
possess the land upon which to raise the corn, nor the means of 
purchasing from those who had it, the Indians' love of sweet and 
gaudy things would be taken advantage of. A quantity of sweet 
cakes would be baked and a few little bright colored pieces of 
cloth taken in a canoe up the river to a Castle, or one of the 
smaller Indian villages, and these would be bartered with the 
Indians for corn. Of course the white man obtained the better 
of the bargain, as he always has done with the Indian, and a canoe 
load of corn would be purchased with material which was 
probably not actually worth one-tenth as much as the corn. 
* * * 

"FIRE! FIRE! 

The first fire-fighting apparatus of Schenectady was purchased 
in 1764, when the Colonial Legislature passed a bill authorizing 
Schenectady to spend ±82 — $205 — for the purchase of a "fire 
engine," one of those pumping devices seemingly designed for 
breaking men's hearts and l)acks. This "fire engine" was not like 



2 8o Old Schenectady. 

the more modern one of a hnndred years later. The modern 
engine could suck its water from a well or cistern, but that of 1764 
required two sets of fire workers ; one to man the breaks and the 
other to carry water in buckets from the nearest supply and dump 
it into the tank of the engine. Why it would not have saved time 
and strength to throw the water immediately upon the fire, instead 
of into the tank of the "fire engine," is a mystery as great as 
Ann's age. 

* * * 

A PROPHESY FULFILLED. 

An odd fulfillment of a prophesy is told in the following- 
reminiscence of 1745. Jan Schermerhorn was taking a stroll 
one evening, smoking his pipe and thinking of anything but 
Indians when he was suddenly grabbed from behind. The old 
man was speechless with fright till he found that his captor was 
his son-in-law, Klaus Viele, who had played a practical joke upon 
him. His terror immediately became rage and he exclaimed m 
Dutch : "You cursed son of the camp ! It will come home to you." 
On the second day after the evening when the "joke" was played, 
Klaus was captured by Indians from Canada. It had indeed 
"come home to him." The Viele home and farm was on the 
southern bank of the Mohawk river, near the second lock of the 
Erie canal, about four miles west of the city. The Indians were 
first seen by a slave named Jack, who was plowing in a field not 
far from the house. He had sufficient self-possession not to let it 
be seen that he had discovered them, but continued the furrow and 
turned back toward the house. As soon as he reached the end of 
the furrow in that direction, he left the horses and ran at top 
speed for the house and gave the alarm. Cornelius Viele and 
the members of the family fastened the heavy doors and window 
shutters and made a determined resistance, one of the Indians 
being shot dead by Mr. Viele. Klaus, who was working in a 
field on an island, hearing the shot, started for his home and was 
captured. He was taken up the river two nnles when they saw 



kciiiiiiisceticcs. 281 

Simon Groot and another man working" in a field along' the river. 
l'>oth these men attem])tcd to esea])e 1)\- swimming the river, I)ut 
(.root was shot dead in midstream, while his eompanion eseapetl. 
After Klans X'iele and the Indians arrived in Canada. Klans was 
whipped and forced to run the gauntlet, lie was then adopted 
hy the family of the Indian whom his father had killed and lived 
with them for fonr years. And so the prophesy was fnlfilled. 



DOWN HILL. 

According to tradition, the earl}' settlers did not know any- 
thing ahont ihat portion of harness called the breeching. The 
manner of holding a wagon hack on a down grade was by cutting 
a sai)ling with a large suj^ply of branches and tying it to the 
back of the wagon to act as a drag. Ever) wagon was supplied 
with an ax and rope for this purpose. 



A FORGOTTEN FORT. 

There was a small fort or blockhouse, ])uilt by the people 
of Schenectady in 1744, about which little is known. There seems 
to be no record of it in any of the histories, but Dr. Daniel Toll 
gives a description of it in an unpublished manuscript. He was 
born about 1776 and therefore, even if the little fort was not in 
existence in his boyhood, those who knew all about it and who 
helped build it were living and gave him an account of it, so he 
could write with aulb<)rity. This fort was built at a place which 
the Dutch settlers called, "SchouUen Uosche" which means, "hide 
in the wood." and is now known as Schermerliorn's mill. 
It was made of massive timbers covered with plank four 
inches thick, thus making it proof against any rifle or musket 
bullet of those <la\s. The first story was 12 feet square and 8 feet 
high. The second story projected over the first four feet on each 
of its four sides. There were two loopholes on each side and eight 



282 Old Schenectady. 

in the projecting floor. These latter were to keep the attack- 
ing party from setting fire to the buikling. The lower tloor 
had no openings of any kind, other than the door and this 
was massive and fastened inside by great bars of wood. The 
high roof was of so steep a pitch that the chance of a fire brand 
remaining upon it was sHght. The purpose of this fort, or more 
properly blockhouse, was for temporary refuge for the nearby 
families upon sudden attack. The fort was moved several times. 
As the number of houses increased, so that their very number 
was a protection, the fort was moved to a more exposed and less 
thickly populated district. 



THE "POUND YORK." 

When money values have been spoken of in this book as 
pounds, the Pound York was meant and not the Pound SterHng. 
The Pound York was nominally $2.50, while the Pound Sterling, 
was nominally, as it is now, $5. 

* * * 

TIME, 4:19. 

Schenectady has been the home of horse-men and races for 
1 50 years. In the old days the races were between neighbors, 
usually those who were sufficiently well off to be able to keep 
driving horses. The course was generally on Front or Green 
streets, the stake usually being supper for "the crowd," paid 
for by the loser. Occasionally there would be a purse for a 
small amount. The races in summer were running races, but in the 
winter, when the ice of the river was in good condition, the horses 
were driven in front of sleighs. Stop watches were not a neces- 
sity with the great-great granddaddies of the present generation 
of Dorpians, for a quarter of a minute was sufficiently accurate, 
so the timing could be done with the old fashioned "turnip" or 
even a clock. The sport was ])robably more enjoyed than it is 
to-day for the contests were between acquaintances and being 



Reminiscences. 



283 



devoid of the ga„,blins oIcikmU, it was sporl. There .s a tra.h- 
Uon that the w^altltier citizens, wh,. ow„e.l -fasf ht>rses of wh.eh 
°y were espeeiaUy pro,,,,. w„„.d have so,„e.hi,t, pa,„ted .u»« 
Ihe'baeks of t'teir sieig.ts w,„oh the „ei,hh„rs i<„ew was a p,et .e 
of the favorite horse a„d whieh strangers d,scovered was a horse, 
because the painting wonld be labelled with that fact. 
» * * 
THE ORIGINAL SHIP CANAL. 
That the parettt of the $101,000,000 tooo-ton barge canal 
between the Hudson river and the Great Lakes was hon, ,., 
Schenectady, the conception of the bra.n of a Schencetad.an, ,s as 
unknown as are the inhabitants of Mars. , , - , 

^s early as .8.. Dr. Daniel J. Toll, a deseeu.lant of Karel 
Haensen Toll, one of the early settlers of Scbenecta. Iv ,n , -M. 
began to write upon the subject of construcng a canal for sa,l,., 
,le,s and later steatrtboats, between the '^"-' ^^^ In . 
Lake Ontar,o, by way of the Mohawk r,vcr. One.da La e 
the Oswego river. Dr. Toll's idea as set forth by l'™-"/ ' 
be easily contprehended by glancing at the reproducfon ot the 
map never before published. 




/: 






.;^-^'' "- 






u- 

.»*'' 



Or,gwal Plan for u.ing the Mohawk Riv, 



Ship Canal. 



284 Old Schenectady. 

To fully understand Dr. Toll's plan, it iimst be known that 
the Mohawk in 1821 was broken up by rapids, even more than it 
is now, at intervals of several miles, in some parts, and of shorter 
stretches in others. In his description, Dr. Toll says : 

"The average height of the banks of the Mohawk river above 
low water is 12 feet and the fall at the rapids is from one to 
three feet, with a natural basin above the rapids of a depth of 
six to seven feet. At the head of each rapids construct a dam 
five or six feet high, which will give a slack-water basin of from 
10 to 12 feet in depth, and still leave the banks sufficiently above 
the surface. The basins above the dams are to be connected with 
the basins below, by means of short canals starting above the 
dams and ending just below them in locks." Among the many 
advantages predicted by Dr. Toll were; "the possibility of journey- 
ing from New York to the village of Utica in 24 hours, whereas 
now the usual time of passage between Schenectady and Utica, 
by canal packet, is from 24 to 28 hours ; great encouragement to 
agricultural, and manufacturing enterprise by reducing the cost 
and time of transportation from the farms and villages in the 
Mohawk valley to the great market of New York City." Dr. 
Toll was convinced that the Mohawk valley "would be turned into 
one continuous manufacturing village." 

It is a rather odd fact that, three score and ten years after 
Dr. Toll drew his map. the Legislature of the State of New York. 
appropriated $101,000,000 to carry out his ideas on a much 
grander scale. 



AN EARLY LYNCHING. 

It is a rather odd fact that in 1756, in Schenectady, an Indian, 
known by the the name of "jerry," was lynched. It was he who 
had betrayed General Ih-addcK^^; to the French and Indians, at the 
place of the historical "defeat," near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 
This "Jerry" was seen in Schenectady by some one who knew him. 
An alarm was given and the Indian was chased. He was found 



Reminiscences. 285 

in the evening, hidins^- in the cellar of Harman Van Slyck. He 
was taken several miles up the river, on the south side, and killed. 
His head was cut off and exposed on a pole, just outside the 
stockade along" Ferry street. As soon as ca])tiu'ed, the Indian 
began to sing his death song and continued to do so till he was 
killed. 



WHIPPING POST AND STOCKS. 

Before the Revolution, one form of punishment by the courts, 
for minor offences, was the whipi)ing post and another was the 
stocks. If a man borrowed a neighbor's hen for the purpose of 
studying ornothological anatomy, he was whipped. If a party of 
young "bloods" gazed too deeply in the wine cu]), and l)roke 
windows in the houses of the citizens, as a pastime, they were 
])ut in the stocks, where, with their ankles and wrists securely 
fastened between massive blocks of wood, they were jeered at 
and pelted with mud by the street urchins. The whipping ix)st 
and stocks of Schenectady were situated by the "watch-house" 
which stood on the site of the first Dutch Church, near the bronze 
tablet, at the junction of State and Church streets. The greater 
number of culprits were the soldiers who occui)ied the liarracks. 
It was one of the sights indulged in l)y many citizens, the going 
to the post to see a soldier whipped. 



CHURCH MONEY. 

Just after the J\evolution, about 1790, there was a great 
scarcity of small change. This was not only an inconvenience, 
but also materially reduced the rt'ceii)ts wlicn tlie collections were 
taken up in the First Dutch Reformed Church, the peo])le actually 
feeling, or making it an excuse, that they had no change and could 
not afford to give a large ])iece of mone\- or a bill. Now the 
Dutchman was the onlv rixal of the Yankee in the matter of 
thrift and was almost the equal of the Scot. So the members of 



286 Old Schenectady. 

the consistory filled and lighted their think-producers and puffed 
away in silence till one of the number suggested that the people 
deposit with the deacons of the Church their large bills and coin 




Paper Money Issued by the Dutch Church in 1790. 

and that the consistory should issue therefore notes of a value of 
one, two, three and six pence. The first issue was for £ioo and 
the notes were printed, or at least some of them, by C. R. and G. 
Webster, of Albany. 

■fi -fi * 

EARLY BEVERAGES. 

It is rather odd that in all of the many items of expense found 
in the old Dutch records, for liquor in Schenectady County, both 
public and private, not once is a charge for the national drink, 
"Schnapps" or Holland gin, recorded. The item is generally rum, 
sometimes wine, and once in awhile brandy. 

HISTORY OF THE DIKE. 

The dike connecting Schenectady with the village of Scotia 
is two or three years the junior of the old wooden bridge which 
preceded the present decrepit, although not old, iron bridge. Up 
to 181 T, the road from Scotia to the bridge was across the flat. 
When the Mohawk river was high and the flats flooded, there was 
no communication between Scotia and the city. Floods were not 



Reminiscences. ^^7 

so frequent nor so sreat in those clays as they are now, nor did 
the river fall so low as it does now. Both of these conditions 
^vcre due to the forests in the immediate vieinity of the river and 
up north toward the Adirondaeks and south alono^ Schoharie 
Creek The woods kept the snow from meltino- as fast as it does 
now and also held sufficient moisture in the summer months to 
keep thousands of springs and scores of brooks and larger streams 
alive which have disappeared, in the case of the springs, and are 
drv for a part of the vear m the case of the brooks and streams. 
To return to the dike ; the conditions were such and the traveling 
so -reat that in 1811, bids were advertised and the contract lei 
to John Sanders, of Scotia, for $.,500. The earth for the dike 
was scraped up from the flat land along the dike on both sides 
and this was topped with gravel. On the river bank, at the toot 
oi the low bluff upon which the Sanders mansion stands, is a few 
hundred feet of a dike. This was built before the Revolutu.n^to 
protect the flat land from being washed away by the river. The 
dike built by Mr. Sanders was to be two feet higher than the 
"Deborah Glen dike," as it is known in the Glen-Sanders famih. 
The dike was fenced on both sides, as the law required all 
property to be fenced in those days, and for many years thereafter, 
and on either side was a row of Normandy poplars. Ihe dike 
was reallv most attractive in the days when these i^ne trees 
flourished. They were finally cut down as the shade prevented 
the sun from drawing the frost out of the ground, and m wet 
weather their shade kept the mud from drying. There was no 
walk on the dike till 1867. Before that year, persons who crossed 
on foot walked in the middle of the road except when the mud 
was deep, then thev skinned along on the fence and m time. 
boards were pulled from the fence in places to walk iq.on. In 
1867 the Rev. Mr. Wilson, pastor of the Scotia Dulch Reformed 
Church, took up the matter of a plank walk and secure.l sufticient 
monev for its construction. This walk was on the south side of 
the dike as was the narrow stone walk which was moved across 
Ui. dike bv the (V-ncral Electric Company when it built the tn)lley 



288 Old Schenectady. 

line. The dike was a part of the Mohawk Turnpike Company's 
property, as was also the old wooden bridge, till 1835, when the 
Schenectady and Utica Railroad was forced to buy it in order to 
obtain a right of way. The deed required the railroad company 
to keep the turnpike in repair for its entire length and this, it 
and its successor, the New York Central, did till about 1880, when 
the road was abandoned. 

* * * 

WASHINGTON IN SCHENECTADY. 

The two stories of George Washington that are best known 
are the famous hatchet and cherry-tree story and the other equally 
famous one of the time when he was commander-in-chief of the 
Continental Armies, when, tradition has it, according to one his- 
torian of Schenectady, Washington and an acquaintance were 
walking on one of the streets of Schenectady, and were met by a 
negro slave who removed his hat and bowed profoundly. Wash- 
ington returned the salute in kind and was questioned by his com- 
l^anion as to the advisability of recognizing a slave, whereupon 
Washington replied, "I cannot permit a poor negro to be more 
polite than I." 

* * * 

A COLONIAL FESTIVAL. 
Next to New Year's day. Pans and Pinkster were the most 
popular and generally observed holidays of the old Dutch. Pans 
was Easter and Pinkster was Whitsunday. Pinkster was particu- 
larly a gala day, when young and old gave themselves up to jollity 
and boisterous fun. The joys of the day began in the morning 
with s])orts, out-of-door games and contests and ended, late at 
night, with indoor games and dancing. There was "egg butting," 
a custom that is observed to-dav at tlic Ca|)ital in Washington, 
only it is called ''&^g rolling-;" and "riding at the ring." The 
latter sport was probably a nu'al aclaptation of the tournaments 
of the days of Chivalry. The necessary arrangements were a 
cord tied across the road, just above the heads of men on horse- 



Rciniiiisci-iiccs. ~ ^^ 

,,„,, Fro„, .h.s oora was suspcdcl by . sl.ov, string, a finger 
,,„.; Each ho,-s.™an was providcl whh a short sbarp-po.ntc 
A about the size of a meat skewer, wh.eh was held between 
fir, tger and thnntb. The conrpetitors were obhge. to r,de 
fnU .all.; tnrder the eord and attempt to thrust the.r lances 
roth the' r,ng and carrv it o« three times. W- o.te o > 
contestants bad accomplished this, he was chase.l by al the other 
t . ,tts. H he sttcceeded in reachtng the goal, ^'^<'^^^2 
cartMtt he was the winner. The prize was the paynte t In lu 
ef contestants of the hi,, for hnnseH and Iris ..st grr, a t,,e 
dance and s«p|>er to ,,e given in the evenmg. Tf, however he 
!" a "i 1 e was obhged to foot the bill for his captor atrd h,s 
;" . Xr- For a weeK before Pinkster, the inhabitants. ,ack a,,, 
white began to tnake ready for the festival by erect.ng booths o 
r ; on \lbanv m from tire most thickly leaved trees and 
:t -X : ."-' s fre„„ent,y referred to in o,d mannscnpts 

TZIT^^ :::" im":itorseles, wresthng ...ches 

:::occaLa,-scra,>s.- ->' ^ ^ -™i:- ^T t!! 
the fiddle and ,ew s harp, I nrkster was a 



Itr'^'tiiin^'theywerc granted sua, lihertv ,. 

^ovIeLelves according to their own ideas, C.. way .. d^^^^^^ 

;;f::^t::t:i;'x:;::eJ:;:::::^. :-/'■'";;:;::" 

::ddbea;withpalmandfi,.ersandaf,t,..m., 

wordless, droning song wh.Ci, as the „,„sc«,ar con- 

„ecome wild and wierd and was -co.r.,«,n d u - 

tonions, wagging and twisting of t,,e hca.l and ,olhn. 



290 Old Schenectady. 

eyes. One after another of the slaves would join in the dance, 
as the spirit moved him or her, to do so, till the musician was 
surrounded hy a ring of hlack and yellow twisting, wriggling 
histerical slaves who, for the time, were thousands of miles away 
in the heart of superstitious Africa. One hy one they would fall 
to the ground exhausted when their places would be taken by 
others, who were just beginning to feel the moving of the spirit. 
It was not unusual for this wild dance to continue through two 
days. 

* * * 

BURNT AT THE STAKE. 

So far as can be ascertained, only one person was ever 
executed in Schenectady by being burnt at the stake. This was in 
1740, when a slave belonging to Simon Toll, was burnt for the 
crime of arson. The execution took place on the Albany turn- 
pike — now State street — at the foot of the hill. 



THE NOVELTY WORKS. 

'JMie remains of the "Old Fort" is as popular a place for a 
Sunday afternoon walk for the boys and girls of to-day as was 
"Old Fort" itself for their parents. It was situated about a mik 
north from the center of the village of Scotia, between the \'h' 
road and the Central-Hudson railroad. It was originally the 
home of Clausia Veeder, his wife and son Abe. Clausia was a 
veteran of the Revolution and a man of good family, he l^eing one 
of the Veeders of Schenectady County. After the death of liis 
wife, the house was ])ermitte(l to go to rack and ruin and tlie 
habits of himself and his son followed the lead of the house. 
Clausia, the old soldier, was the piece de resislance of the Fourth 
of July parades for many years. While tlu' ])rominent part he 
took in the celebration of the Nation's birth-day was a source of 
l)ride to the old man, it was, at the same lime a ])eriod of distress, 
for he was alwavs ill after it. The dav before the Fourth the Com- 



Reminiscences. 291 

mittee in charge of the celcliration sent some one to the Fort to 
give Clausia a scrnhhing for the occasion. As this scrubbing 
( iccurred but once a year it was always too much for the old man 
and he was ill for several days thereafter. After the accumula- 
tions of twelve months had been removed and the old fellow's 
face freed from its stubby beard, he would dress himself in his 
Continental nnifrom and, with his musket wliich had killed 
"Britishers." would head the procession in a carriage especially 
provided for him. He died at the great age of 101. During his 
last sickness a hen belonging to the estate chose one corner of the 
foot of the old man's bed for a nest in which to raise her brood of 
chicks. Biddy was undisturbed and a few days after the old 
man's death she strutted proudly forth with a family of yellow, 
downy chicks. Abe, the son, was well educated and taught school 
for a number of years. He was something of a dandy and particu- 
lar about his manners. His coat and waistcoat buttons were 
made of silver quarter dollars and dimes polished till they shown. 
Several years before the death of his father he became eccentric 
and toward the last of his days he became decidedly "niffy" in 
person and habits. He prided himself upon his eccentricity and 
delighted in doing things as no one else ever did them. The idea 
of the Fort originated with Abe after the death of his father. He 
banked up the lower story of the house, cut holes in the upper 
iloor walls to represent loop-holes, filled the house with Revolu- 
tionary arms and relics and curiosities and called it "The Fort." 
After the death of the old man he closed the lower floor of the 
house where he died, as he was afraid of his father's spook. 
Finally his fear became so great that he would not sleep in the 
house at all but constructed a hovel partly under ground where 
he lived. This contained more curiosities and was called by him 
"The Great American Novelty Works." This hovel was a 
rendezvous for local bums and tramps trt)m afar whom he induced 
to stop there to protect him frc^m "Thy father's ghost." These 
unwashed socialists slept on the ground floor and Abe slept in the 
attic which he entered by means of a trap-door. This door was 



2()2 Old Schenectady. 

carefully closed down and then Abe made his bed upon it so that 
the spook guards below could not enter without awakening him. 
Just before and in the early days of the Civil War a Sunday visit 
to The Old Fort and The Great American Novelty Works was in 
vogue. The Central-Hudson ran a special train from the city to 
the place and later in the day carried them back. Among the 
sights of the place was the bed upon which his father died and 
the hen's nest filled with the broken egg shells. On the wall over 
the bed was daubed the legend ; "The death bed of a hero." Each 
of the apple trees in Abe's orchard was provided with a long pole 
so that persons who wished to steal his apples could do so "with- 
out injuring the fruit or themselves with the stones thrown to 
dislodge it." In the potato patch were several potato diggers so 
that those persons who wished to steal his potatoes could "dig 
a hill clean instead of pulling up the vines and wasting half the 
potatoes in the hills." C)ne of his fads was worn-out tin ware, 
specimens of which he annexed, begged or purchased in large 
(|uantities. As late as 1900 there was a pile of old tin ware five 
feet high and ten or twelve feet in diameter. Some of this he 
placed on top of a huge fire which melted the solder. This he 
gathered and sold and the tin was used to cover the leaking roof. 
Abe went to the Centennial Expoisition in Philadelphia and 
remained for a week on a capital of $5. He saw more and could 
converse more interestingly and intelligently than could half the 
persons who spent twenty times that sum for a week's visit. Before 
he went he acquired all possible information in regard to rules 
and regulations. The Centennial Exposition grounds were not 
open at night. At a certain horn- signals were sounded when 
everyone was obliged to leave the grounds. Instead of going 
with the crowd, Abe secreted himself in a remote part of the 
grounds and was eventually foimd by one of the policemen and 
locked up for the night. This was just what he expected and 
wished for, as it would eliminate the necessity of paying for a 
lodging. Being a man of good education and giving a straight 
account of himself, the authorities sized him up as an eccentric 



Rciuinisccnccs. 29.^ 

character and so treated him with kiiKhiess and respect. In the 
morning- he was ^\\Qn an excellent hreakfast and turned loose in 
the grounds. Thus, for the ])rice of one admission to the grounds 
he had ohtained two day's admission, a night's lodging and his 
hreakfast. Abe worked this scheme successfully for two or three 
times, when the authorities "became wise" and turned him out 
at night instead of locking him up. Abe was a very cautious man. 
especially so with respect to the railroad cars, and yet, strangely 
enough, he was killed by the cars while walking" on the tracks 
between the city and the Fort, in a dense fog, in 1891. Abe 
N'eeder was a misfit citizen. He never found the particular niche 
that was especially hewed out for him in this life. Had he found 
it he would probably, with his birth and education, have been a 
l)r()minent and useful citizen instead of a mere eccentric. 

* -'f :;= 
ONCE A PRISON. 

\'an Slyck Island, just above the bridge l)etween Schenectady 
and Scotia, was once the place of imprisonment for a number of 
French soldiers who had surrendered to General Prideaux at Fort 
Xiagara. 

* * * 

FREDERICK VISSCHER. 
Colonel Frederick X'isscher was not an early settler of 
Schenectady, but he and his family lived in Schenectady while 
llie Revolution was in progress and after peace hatl been declared. 
so ( he being a remarkable man in private life and as an officer of 
the Continental army, possessed of si)lendid courage) Schenectady 
may claim him as an adopted son. 1 lis life as a soldier was filled 
with stirring incident and tragedy, lie had many terrible ex- 
periences and showed such determination and bravery, that some 
of them are recorded here. The incidents are based upon history, 
giving a general account of them an.d upon the more detailed 
verbal account by one of his sisters, man\ \ears ago to a 
descendant of tlie (dens and \'an Rensselaers. 



294 Old Schoiectady. 

iVt the beginning- of the Revohition Captain Frederick 
Visscher was in command of a company of mihtia npon which 
he was expending- his best attention, so that they shonld be well 
drilled and ready for any emergency. 

(Jne day. at Caughnawaga, as Captain Visscher was drilling 
his men, Sir John Johnson was seen driving in his carriage 
rapidly upon the parade ground, toward the Captain and his men. 
Sir'John was the degenerate son of fine old Sir William Johnson, 
who, had he lived, would doubtless have stood by the Colonies, 
but Sir John and "that infamous JJutler" were Tories, who 
delighted in torturing and butchering their acquaintances and 
neighbors. 

Sir John demanded; "By whose orders are these men 
assembled here ?" 

"By mine,"" replied Captain Visscher. Sir John then ordered 
them to disperse in the name of the King, but Visscher absolutely 
refused to permit them to do so. Sir John was enraged and, 
drawing his pistol, pointed it at Captain Visscher's head and 
shouted: "If you don"t disperse those damned rebels I will blow 
your brains out." The last word was no more than uttered, than 
Sir John heard the lock of a rifle click and saw one of the soldiers 
take deliberate aim at him and then the other members of the 
company did the same. While Sir John was a bully with the 
instincts of a blackguard, he was not a coward, but these rifles 
were too much for him. He put up his pistol and drove away 
with curses upon the rebels and their cause. 

When he had been promoted to the command of a regiment. 
Colonel Visscher was ordered to the relief of Fort Stanwix, later 
Fort Schuyler and now the city of Rome. After the fight, hearing 
that the enemy was approaching his home, he sent his wife and 
children to Schenectady and was making arrangements for 
moving his mother and two sisters, when the mansion at Caugh- 
nawaga, was attacked l)y six Indians. The home was so well and 
hotly defended by Colonel Visscher and his two brothers, that 
the Indians withdrew. At the break of day they returned in 



Rciitiiiiscciiccs. 295 

r^Teater nunil)ers, Ijrokc down the l)arrica'lc(l door and drove the 
family, fighting-, to tlie attie where the three brothers fought the 
Indians hand-to-hand. While this terrific fight was going on, 
]\Irs. \'isscher and her two daughters tried to escape down the 
stairs. ( )ne of the Indians knocked Mrs. \'isscher senseless with 
the butt of his musket, but the young ladies were allowed to reach 
the yard unmolested. There, one of them was strijiped of her 
bonnet and shawl and ordered to "go." She needed no second 
bidding, but ran to one of the great out-of-doors brick ovens, 
which were much in use in those days, and hid in it. The other 
sister hid in some bushes. Soon they saw the Indians leave the 
house and then one of them returned and re-entered it, and, a 
moment later joined the others wdio all w^ent away. A few 
minutes later the sisters saw that the mansion was on fire. 

To return to the fight in the attic : One of the brothers was 
killed and the other jumped out of a window and was killed by 
the fall and later scaljx'd. The colonel was knocked out by two 
blows from a tomahawk and his scalp was torn from his head. 
Colonel Msscher was a man of great vitality. He soon regained 
consciousness and hearing the Indians leaving the house, he raised 
himself on his elbow, to see what had been the fate of his famil\ . 
He heard one of the Indians retm-ning up the stairs, so he laid 
down to feign death, but the agony of his terrible wounds caused 
a twitching of the muscles. The Indian seeing that he was still 
alive, drew his knife across Colonel Visscher's throat twice and 
then joined his companions. 

This was the Indian whom the xoimg ladies saw re-enter the 
house. It happened that Cf)lonel X^isscher wore a red and a 
black neck-cloth, the black one being the outer. Whcu tlie Indian 
slashed liis tlioat lie tliouglit he saw blood flowing from the 
wound, so he departed, btit it was this red neck-cloth, the actual 
wounds from the knife being painfid, but not serious. I)}- the 
time the Indians had disappeared, the culunel saw that the house 
was on fire. The operation of scali)ing was a horrible one. A 
cut was made on a level with the to]) of the ears comi)letely 



296 Old Schenectady. 

around the head, an edge of the scalp was raised and taken 
between the teeth and torn away from the head. The shock to the 
nervous system was so great that scalping usually caused death, 
even when there was no other injury. 

Notwithstanding his condition Colonel Visscher immediately 
began to remove the body of his brother from the burning house 
and to save his insensible mother. He succeeded in getting her 
into a chair, in dragging it and her to the door of the house, when 
his agony caused him to faint. By this time help had arrived 
and they were both saved from the flames, but not till the chair 
in which Mrs. Visscher laid was on fire. The Colonel, his mother, 
two sisters and the bodies of his brothers, were taken down the 
river bv a faithful slave, in a canoe to Schenectady. Incredible 
as it may seem, the colonel recoverd and lived till 1809. Several 
years after this frightful event, two Indians on their way to 
Albany, stopped in Schenectady, one of them being the Indian 
who had tomahawked and scalped the colonel and, supposedly, 
cut his throat. This devil had the nerve to try to see Colonel 
Visscher, as he would not believe that he was still living. When 
the colonel heard of it, he was with difficulty restrained from 
killing the Indian, who immediately left for Albany with his com- 
panion and never returned to Schenectady during Colonel 
X'isscher's life. The negro slave who took the Visschers in the 
canoe to Schenectady, was given his freedom and was presented 
with a handsome horse by his grateful master, Colonel Visscher. 



NEW YEAR'S GREETING. 
The old Dutch greeting on New Year's day, translated into 
English, was "I wish you a happy New Year. Long may you 
live, much may you give, happy may you die and inherit the King- 
dom of Heaven by and by." 



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